当前位置：问答库＞考研试题

一、Explain-the-fllowing-terms

1． 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.

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． Embedding

【答案】 It refers to the inclusion of a clause within a phrase or another clause, or of a phrase into another phrase. An example of embedded clauses is: What I do is none of your business. （Nominal clause embedded as subject of another clause）

4． Corpus

【答案】 Corpus is a collection of linguistic data , either compiled as written texts or as a transcription of recorded speech. The main purpose of a corpus is to verify a hypothesis about language~~for example , to determine how the application of a particular sound , word , or syntactic construction varies.

5． Duality

【答案】Duality refers to the fact that in all languages so far investigated there are two levels of structure or patterning. At the first , higher level , language is analyzed in terms of combinations of meaningful units ; at the second, lower level, it is seen as a sequence （such as morphemes, words etc.）

of segments which lack any meaning in themselves, but which combine to form units of meaning. For example , a syllable is the smallest unit that is normally spoken by itself, and scores of syllables become the carriers of hundreds of meaningful segments of words that are called morphemes.

二、Fill-in-the-blanks

6． In phonological analysis the words fail-veil are distinguishable simply because of the two phonemes/f/-/v/. This is an example for illustrating_____.（戴模）

【答案】Minimal pairs

【解析】如果有两个词，它们除了出现在同一位置上的一个音外，其余的音都一样，那么这两个词就构成了 一个最小的对立体，所以fail-veil 是最小对立体。

7． Taboo and_____are two faces of the same communication coin.

【答案】euphemism

【解析】禁忌语是由于宗教、政治或性别原因而避免使用的词汇，通常被委婉语所代替。委

婉语是用一词代替 比较唐突的令人不快的另一词的表达方法。他们是同一交流过程的两个方面。

8． _____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。

9． Back-formation refers to an abnormal type of word-formation where a shorter word is derived by deleting an_____affix from a longer form already in the language.

【答案】imagined

【解析】逆构词法是一种不规则的构词类型，即把一个语言中已经存在的较长单词删去想象中的词缀，由此造出一个较短的单词。

10．Consonant sounds can also be made when two organs of speech in the mouth are brought close together so that the air is pushed out between them, causing_____.

【答案】friction

11．Coordination and subordination belong to _____ construction.

【答案】endocentric

【解析】向心结构包含一个作为整体结构的中心或核心的成分，该中心或核心可以在最后，也可以在开头。从 结构上可以划分为两类：主从结构和并列结构。

三、Short-answer-questions

12．Explain three levels of categorization.

【答案】 Three levels of categorization

（1） Superordinate levels mean higher levels or more general levels. Furniture and animal are

examples of superordinate category levels.

（2）Basic-level categories are more specific , but not too specific. Chair is an example of basic-level categories.

（3）Subordinate levels mean lower levels or more specific categories. Desk chair is an example of subordinate categories.

13．Why is back-formation a productive way of forming verbs?

【答案】 Backformation is a type of word-formation by which a shorter word is derived by the deletion of an imagined affix of a longer form already present in the language. It is a special kind of metanalysis , combined with analogical creation, e.g. the verb edit was formed from editor by dropping the imagined derivational suffix -or.

The majority of backformed words are verbs，for verbs have a peculiar property to develop around them a number of deverbal nouns, such as the agent noun and the noun of action, like edit from editor. Verbs also generate various types of participial adjectives, such as creating and created. Hence people expect to find a family of derivatives attached to a verb. On the other hand, when people come across one or more apparently deverbal nouns, they often take for granted that there must he a corresponding verb , and they simply create the verb base from which the original word seems to be derived.

14．What are the differences between voiced sounds and voiceless sounds in terms of articulation?

【答案】 When the vocal cords are spread apart , the air from the lungs passes between them unimpeded. Sounds produced in this way are described as voiceless, consonants [p, s, t] are produced in this way; but when the vocal cords are drawn together, the air from the lungs repeatedly pushes them apart as it passes through , creating a vibration effect. Sounds produced in this way are described as voiced [b, z, d] are voiced consonants.

15．What are vowels glide about? What differentiates pure or monophthong vowel from vowel glides?

【答案】 When pure or monophthongs are pronounced, the quality remains constant throughout the articulatioin. In contrast, those where there is an audible change of quality are called vowel glides. V owel glides are produced by moving from one vowel position to another through intervening positions. If a single movement of the tongue is involved, the glides are called diphthongs. A double movement produces triphthongs.

16．Identify the type of trope employed in the following examples.

1）The boy was as cunning as a fox.

2）…the innocent sleep the death of each day‟s life, …（Shakespeare ）

3）Buckingham Palace has already been told the train may be axed when the rail network has been privatised. （Daily Mirror, 2 February 1993）

4）Ted Dexter confessed last night that England are in a right old spin as to how they can beat India this winter. （Daily Mirror, 2 February 1993）

【答案】 1） simile 2 ） metaphor 3 ） metonymy 4 ） synecdoche