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一、Explain-the-fllowing-terms

1． Concordance

【答案】 The computer has the ability to search for a particular word , sequence of words , or perhaps even a part of speech in a text. The computer can also retrieve all examples of a particular word. It can also calculate the number of occurrences of a certain word so that information on the frequency of the word may be gathered. We may also be interested in sorting the data in some way—for example, alphabetically on words occurring in the immediate context of the word. This is usually referred to as concordance.

2． Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

【答案】 Sapir-Whorf hypothesis consists of two parts : linguistic determinism and linguistic relativity. Linguistic determinism refers to the notion that a language determines certain nonlinguistic cognitive processes. Different languages offer people different ways of expressing around , they think and speak differently. Linguistic relativity refers to the claim that the cognitive processes that are determined are different for different languages. Thus, speakers of different languages are said to think in different ways. The hypothesis is now interpreted mainly in two different ways: a strong version and a weak one. The strong version believes that the language patterns determine peopled thinking and behavior ; the weak one holds that the former influence the later. So far , many researches and experiments conducted provide support to the weak version.

3． Syllable

【答案】 Syllable : It refers to a unit of spoken language that is bigger than a speech sound. It consists of one or more vowel sounds alone or of a syllabic consonant alone or of either with one or more consonant sounds preceding or following.

4． The London School of Linguistics

【答案】 The London School generally refers to the kind of linguistic scholarship in England. The man who turned linguistics proper into a recognized distinct academic subject in Britain was J.R. Firth.

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.

6． 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.

7． Functional Sentence Perspective （FSP ）

【答案】 It is a theory of linguistic analysis which refers to art analysis of utterances （or texts） in terms of the information they contain. The principle is that the role of each utterance part is evaluated for its semantic contribution to the whole.

8． Allomorph

【答案】 A morpheme may take various shapes or forms, and an allomorph is any of the variant forms of a morpheme as conditioned by position or adjoining sounds. For instance, the morpheme of plurality {-s} has a number of allomorphs in different sound context, as in “cats” /s/, in “bags” /z/，in “matches” /iz/.

9． Morpheme

【答案】 Morpheme is the smallest unit of language in terms of relationship between expression and content , a unit that cannot be divided into further smaller units without destroying or drastically altering the meaning , whether it is lexical or grammatical. For example , in boys , there are two morphemes : “boy” and “-s”； in international, there are three morphemes: “inter-” “nation” and “-al”.

10．Design features

【答案】 Design features : It refer to the defining properties of human language that tell the difference between human language and any system of animal communication.

二、Short-answer-questions

11．Why do we say language is primarily vocal?

【答案】 Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. Language is primarily vocal, because sound or speech is the primary medium for all human languages, developed or “new”. Writing systems came much later than the spoken forms. The fact that small children learn and can only learn to speak （and listen ） before they write （and read） also indicates that language is primarily vocal , rather than written. The term “human” in the definition is meant to specify that language is human specific.

12．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 former 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”.

13．What are the four maxims of the co-operative principle? Which maxim does this speaker seem to be particularly careful about: "'Well, to be quite honest, I do not think she is ill today.

【答案】 The four maxims of the co-operative principle are as follows:

Quantity. （1） Make your contribution as informative as is required （for the current purposes of the exchange）. （2） Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.

Quality. Try to make your contribution one that is true. （1） Do not say what you believe to be false. （2） Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.

Relation. Be relevant.

Manner. Be perspicuous. （1） Avoid obscurity of expression. （2） Avoid ambiguity. （3） Be brief. （4） Be orderly.

In the utterance given , it is probable that the speaker is particularly careful about the maxim of Quality , which rules that do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.

14．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.

15．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.

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

Carol : Are you coming to the party tonight?

Lara : I've got an exam tomorrow.

【答案】 In this short exchange, obviously Lara breaks the maxim of relation of CP by talking about something totally irrelevant with CaroFs question. However , we can understand her meaning perfectly. Lara is conveying an indirect meaning by giving out an utterance containing a conversational implicative. Her aim is to refuse Carol‟s invitation in a polite and less harsh manner.

三、Essay-question