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一、Explain-the-fllowing-terms

1． MT

【答案】 It refers to machine translation, the use of machine （usually computers） to translate texts from one natural language to another

2． phoneme

Phoneme is a basic unit of phonological study, and it is an abstract collection of phonetic 【答案】

features which can distinguish meaning. For example, in English, is described as a phoneme.

3． 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/.

4． 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 ）.

5． 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）

6． 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）.

7． Stylistics

【答案】 Stylistics is a branch of linguistics studies the features of situationally distinctive uses

（varieties ） of language , and tries to establish principles capable of accounting for the particular choices made by individual and social groups in their use of language.

8． Gradable antonym

【答案】 Gradable antonym. Gradable antonyms are antonyms that are gradable because there are often intermediate forms between the two members of a pair. For example, cold and warm constitute a pair of gradable antonyms.

9． CAI and CAL

【答案】 Computer-assisted instruction （CAI ） means the use of a computer in a teaching program. This includes:

a. A teaching program which is presented by a computer in a sequence. The student responds on the computer , and the computer indicates whether the responses are correct or incorrect.

b. The use of computers to monitor student progress, to direct students into appropriate lessons, material , etc. This is also called computer-managed instruction.

Parallel to CAI , there is CAL （Computer-Assistant Learning ） . The former aims at seeing educational problems on the part of the teacher, whereas the latter emphasizes the use of a computer in both teaching and learning in order to help the learner achieve educational objectives. The first kind of CAL programs which were developed reflected principles similar to programmed instruction. The computer leads the student through learning task step-by-step, asking questions to check comprehension. Depending on the studenfs response, the computer gives the student further practice or progresses to new material （see branching ）. In more recent CAL courseware students are able to interact with the computer and perform higher-level tasks while exploring a subject or problem.

10．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.

二、Short-answer-questions

11．What are deep and surface structures?

【答案】 Deep structure is a central theoretical term in generative grammar opposed to surface structure. It is the abstract syntactic representation of a sentence —an underlying level of structural organization which specific all the factors governing the way the sentence should be interpreted.

Surface structure is a central theoretical term in generative grammar, opposed to deep structure. It is the final stage in the syntactic representation of a sentence , which provides the input to the phonological component of the grammar, and which thus most closely corresponds to the structure we articulate and hear.

12．What is free variation?

【答案】 Free variation is a linguistic term used both in phonology and sociolinguistics. In phonology , if two sounds occurring in the same environment do not contrast. For example ，the substitution of one for the other does not generate a new word but merely a different pronunciation of the same word, the two sounds are said to be in “free variation”.

For instance，both either and direction are pronounced differently in British English and American English without changing their meaning, which are often caused by the regional differences.

13．thrived 10. breathed 11. turned 12. hissed

【答案】

14．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.

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.

16．What are the major concerns of pragmatics?

【答案】 Pragmatics is the study of the language in use. It is mainly about how speakers use language appropriately and effectively in accordance with a given context. It is concerned with the study of meaning as communicated by a speaker （or writer） and interpreted by a listener （or reader） . It has more to do with participants of communication and context in which communication takes place. Hence the study of speaker meaning, that of contextual meaning, of what is unsaid but communicated.