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一、Explain-the-fllowing-terms

1． Phatic function （ communion ）

【答案】 Phatic function: The phatic function of language refers to the use of the language which often consists of small , seemingly meaningless expression for setting up a certain atmosphere or maintaining social contacts rather than for exchanging information or ideas. For example , greetings , farewells , and comments on the weather in English could serve this function.

2． Glottal Stop

【答案】 V ocal tract is composed of oral cavity, nasal cavity and pharynx. When the vocal folds are totally closed, no air can pass between them. The result of this gesture is the glottal stop.

3． 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.

4． Speech community

【答案】 Speech community is a group of people who share a set of norms and expectations regarding the use of language. Speech communities can be members of a profession with a specialized jargon , distinct social groups like high school students or hip-pop fans. In addition, online and other mediated communities, such as many internet forums, often constitute speech communities. Members of speech communities will often develop slang or jargon to serve the group's special purposes and priorities.

5． Category

Category refers to a group of linguistic items which fulfill the same or similar functions in 【答案】

a particular language such as a sentence, a noun phrase or a verb.

二、Short-answer-questions

6． What are the three important points of the Prague School?

【答案】 The three important points developed in Prague School are:（a ） It was stressed that the synchronic study of

language is fully justified as it can draw on complete and controllable material for investigation but no rigid theoretical barrier is erected to separate diachronic study, （b ） There was an emphasis on the

systemic character of language. （ c ） Language was looked on as functional in another sense, that is, as a tool performing a number essential functions or tasks for the community using it.

7． How would you describe this short exchange in terms of the ardors performed by the speakers?

Motorist : My car needs new exhaust system.

Mechanic : Fll be busy with this other car all day.

【答案】 In the motorist‟s utterance ，there are two types of speech acts performed , namely representative and directive，and as to the latter one, it is recognized as an indirect speech act, which is performed through the performance of the former one. Thus, by stating that his car needs new exhaust system , the motorist has in fact asked the mechanic to equip a new exhaust system for him.

Similarly ，in the mechanic‟s utterance , there are two types of speech acts performed ; one is representative , the other commissive. The commissive speech act in fact is an indirect one since it is recognized through the performance of representative action. That is to say, by stating that he will be busy with another car all day, the mechanic has in fact told the motorist that he could not repair his car right away.

8． What is the difference between meaning, concept, connotation, and denotation?

【答案】 Meaning refers to the association of language symbols with the real world. There are many types of meanings according to different approaches. Concept is the impression of objects in peopled mind ; connotation , meaning the properties of the entity a word denotes , is the implied meaning , similar to implication and implicature ; denotation , like sense , is not directly related to objects , but makes the abstract assumption of the real world. For example, the denotation of human is any person such as John and Mary, and its connotation is “biped‟‟ „„featherless‟‟ „„rational‟‟ etc.

9． What makes language unique to human beings?

The design features of language which refer to the defining properties of human language 【答案】

tell the difference between human language and any system of animal communication.Arbitrariness is a core feature of language, which means that there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. Duality , which means 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. Creativity means language is resourceful because of its duality and its recursiveness. Because of duality the speaker is able to combine the basic linguistic unites to form an infinite set of sentences , most of which are never heard before. Displacement means that language can be used to refer to things which are present or not present, real or imagined matters, in the past, present, or future, or in far-away places. So all these features make language unique to human beings.

三、Synthesis

10．A story by Robert Louis Stevenson contains the sentence 4tAs the night fell, the wind rose.?, Could this be expressed as “As the wind rose，the night fell’？” If not, why? Does this indicate a degree of non-arbitrariness about word order? （Bolinger , 1981: 15）

【答案】 Yes. It is a case in point to illustrate non-arbitrariness about word order. When the two parts interchange , the focus and the meaning of the sentence is forced to change , because clauses occurring in linear sequence without time indicators will be taken as matching the actual sequence of

happening. The writer＇s original intention is distorted, and we can feel it effortlessly by reading. That is why systemic functionalists and American functionalists think language is not arbitrary at the syntactic level.

11．What is the definition of cognitive linguistics?

【答案】Cognitive linguistics is a newly established approach to the syudy of language that emerged in the 1970s as a reaction against the dominant generative paradigm which pursues an autonomous aiew of language .Cognitive linguistics is based on human experiences of the world and the way they perceive and conceptualize the world.

12．Define the following terms.

（1）psycholinguistics （2）language acquisition （3）holophrastic stage （4）two-word stage

（5）three-word utterances （6）connectionism （7）cohort model （8）interactive model （9）race model （10）serial model （11）parallel model （12）resonance model （13）construal

（14）construal operations （15）figure-ground alignment （16）trajectory （17）landmark （18）basic level category （19）subordinate level （20）image schema （21）metaphor （22）metonymy （23）ontological metaphors （24）structural metaphors （25）generic space （26）blend space

Psycholinguistics is the study of psychological aspects of language; it usually studies 【答案】（1）

the psychological states and mental activity associated with the use of language. As an interdisciplinary academic field based on psychology and linguistics , psycholinguistics investigates the six following subjects : language acquisition , language comprehension , language production , language disorders , language and thought，and cognitive architecture of language, The most important research subjects are acquisition , comprehension and production.

（2） Language acquisition is one of the central topics in psycholinguistics. Acquiring a first language is something every child does successfully, in a matter of a few years and without the need for formal lessons. Four phases are identified and acknowledged in the process of language acquisition : holophrastic stage ， two word stage , three-word utterances , and , fluent grammatical conversation stage.

（3）Holophrastic stage is the first phase of language acquisition. The main linguistic accomplishments during this stage are control of the speech musculature and sensitivity to the phonetic distinctions used in the parents‟ language. Shortly before their first birthday , babies begin to understand words, and around that birthday, they start to produce them. At this stage, words are usually produced in isolation; this one-word stage can last from two months to a year. About half the words are for objects: food, body parts, clothing, vehicles, toys, household items, animals. There are words for actions , motions, and routines.

（4）Two-word stage is the second phase of language acquisition. Around 18 months, the child begins to learn words at a rate of one every two waking hours, and keeps learning that rate or faster through adolescence. The primitive syntax begins with two- word strings. Children announce when objects appear, disappear, and move about, point out their properties and owners, comment on people doing things and seeing things, reject and request objects and activities, and ask about who, what, and where. These sequences already reflect the language being acquired : in 95% of them , the words are properly ordered.