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一、Fill-in-the-blanks

1． When language is used for establishing an atmosphere or maintaining social contact rather than exchanging information or ideas, its function is _____ function.

【答案】Interpersonal

【解析】人际功能是语言最重要的社会功能，人们由此建立和维持他们的身份和社会地位。

2． _____grammars attempt to tell what is in the language, while_____ grammars tell people what should be in the language. Most contemporary linguists believe that whatever occurs naturally in the language should be described.

【答案】descriptive ; prescriptive

【解析】描述性语言记录语言共同体的成员所遵循的规则，规定式的语言学目的在于为正确使用语言定下各种规则。

3． _____can be defined as the study of language in use. Sociolinguistics , on the other hand , attempts to show the relationship between language and society.

【答案】Pragmatics

【解析】语用学是在语境中研究意义。

4． A_____is a mixed and limited language used for some practical purposes by groups of people who do not know each other’s languages.

【答案】pidgn

【解析】“洋泾浜”语的定义

5． The syllable structure in Chinese is_____or_____or_____.

【答案】CVC ，CV ，V

【解析】普通话的音节中节首位置最多有一个辅音，结尾只能是鼻音所以汉语的音节可以写为（C ）V （C ）.

6． 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.

【答案】duality

【解析】双重性是指拥有两层结构的这种属性，底层结构是上层结构的组成成分，每层都有

自身的组合规则。

二、Explain-the-fllowing-terms

7． Paradigmatic relations

【答案】 Paradigmatic relation , Saussure originally called associative , is a relation holding between elements replaceable with each other at a particular place in a structure , or between one element present and the others absent.

8． Prefix

【答案】 In linguistics, a prefix is a type of affix that precedes the morphemes to which it can attach. Prefixes are bound morphemes （they cannot occur as independent words ） . While most languages employ both prefixes and suffixes, prefixes are less common. Some languages employ mostly suffixes and almost no prefixes at all. The use of prefixes has been found to correlate statistically with other linguistic features, such as a verb-object word order and the use of prepositions.

9． Foregrounding

【答案】 This term is meant for what is unusual, attractive, unconventional, salient. In literature, foregrounding is often achieved through unconventional expressions which attract the readers9 attention. The main manifestations of foregrounding are deviation and parallelism.

10．Denotation

【答案】 The core sense of a word or a phrase that relates it to phenomena in the real world. In the case of linguistic signs, the denotative meaning is what the dictionary attempts to provide. It is the literal meaning of a word, the dictionary meaning, opposite to connotation.

11．Homonymy

【答案】 In any language there are words which have the same linguistic form but are different in meaning. These words are called homonyms. For example, bank （of a river） , and bank （financial institution ）.

三、Short-answer-questions

12．Is American English superior to African English? Why or why not?

【答案】 American English is not superior to African English. As different branches of English, African English and American English are equal. Similar as they are , they are influenced by their respective cultural context and thus form respective systems of pronunciation, words and even grammar.

13．What are the major concerns of the Prague School theory?

【答案】 Three points of the Prague School theory are of special importance.

First , it was stressed that the synchronic study of language is fully justified as it can draw on complete and controllable material for investigation.

Second , there was an emphasis on the systemic character of language.

Third , language was looked on as functional in another sense. Based on these ideas, the Prague School practiced a special style of synchronic linguistics, and made great contribution to phonology and the distinction between phonetics and phonology. Its most important contribution is that it sees language in terms of function.

14．Explain with an example that the evaluation of language is social rather than linguistic.

【答案】 As a social phenomenon, language is closely related to the structure of the society in which it is used, and the evaluation of a linguistic form is entirely social.

To a linguist , all language forms and accents are equally good as far as they can fulfill the communication functions they are expected to fulfill. Therefore, judgments concerning the correctness and purity of linguistic varieties are social rather than linguistic.

A case in point is the use of the postvocalic [r]. While in England accents without postvocalic [r] are considered to be more correct than accents with it, in New York city, accents with postvocalic [r] enjoys more prestige and considered more correct than without it.

15．In what sense is the standard dialect a special variety of language?

【答案】（1） The standard dialect is a particular variety of a language in that it is not related to any particular group of

language users, but it is the variety which any member of a speech community can possibly use regardless of his social and geographical backgrounds, his gender and age.

（2）The standard dialect is based on a selected variety of the language ; usually it is the local speech of an area which is considered the nation’s political and commercial center. For example , standard English developed out of the English dialects used in and around London as they were modified over the centuries by speakers in the court, by scholars from universities and writers. Gradually, the English used by the upper classes in the capital city diverged markedly from the English used by other social groups and came to be regarded as the model for all those who wished to speak and write well.

（3）The standard dialect is not a dialect a child acquires naturally like his regional dialect. It is a superimposed variety; imposed from above the range of regional dialects.

（4）The standard dialect has some special functions. Also designated as the official or national language of a country, the standard dialect is used for such official purpose as government documents, education , news reporting; it is the language used on any formal occasions.