英语语言学教程 考试精华

Chapter 1

1、 What is language?语言

Language is a means of verbal communication.It is instrumental in that communicating by

speaking or writing is a purposeful act. It is social and conventional in that language is a social

semiotic and communication can only take place effectively if all the users share a broad

understanding of human interaction including such associated factors as nonverbal cues,

motivation, and socio-cultural roles.

2、Design features of language语言结构特征

The features that define our human languages can be called design features which can distinguish

human language from any animal system of communication. such as arbitrariness, duality,

creativity (the most important feature of language), displacement（It means that human

languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts, which are not present (in

time and space) at the moment of communication.）

3、 Function of language语言的功能

The use of language to communicate, to think ,etc. Language functions include informative

function信息(the major role of language), interpersonal人际 function(people establish their

relationship with the help of language), performative行事 function(by Austin and Searle in

pragmatics), emotive表情 function, phatic寒暄 communion(some routine expressions),

recreational娱乐 function(taking pleasure from language)and metalingual元语言

function(Language can be used to talk about itself).

4、 Definition of linguistics语言学

The scientific study of human language. It studies not just one language of any one community,

but the language of all human beings.

5、 main branches of linguistics

Phonetics语音学：studies speech sounds, including the production of speech, that is how speech

sounds are actually made, transmitted and received, the description and classification of speech

sounds, words and connected speech。

Phonology音系学：studies the rules governing the structure, distribution, and sequencing of

speech sounds and the shape of syllables. It deals with the sound system of a language by treating

phoneme as the point of departure.

Morphology形态学：is concerned with the internal organization of words. It studies the minimal

units of meaning — morphemes and word-formation processes.

Syntax句法：is about principles of forming and understanding correct sentences.

Semantics语义学：examines how meaning is encoded in a language.

Pragmatics语用学：is the study of meaning in context.

6、 phoneme:音素音位is the smallest linguistic unit of sound that can signal a difference in

meaning.

7、 important distinctions in linguistics语言学中的重要区分

1） descriptive vs. prescriptive描写vs规定：The first is a prescriptive command, while the

second is a descriptive statement. The distinction lies in prescribing how things ought to be and

describing how things are.

2） synchronic vs. Diachronic共时和历时：A synchronic description takes a fixed instant

(usually, but not necessarily, the present) as its point of observation. Most grammars are of this

kind. Diachronic linguistics is the study of a language through the course of its history.

3） langue and parole.语言和言语：Saussure distinguished the linguistic competence of the

speaker and the actual phenomena or data of linguistics (utterances) as langue and parole.

4） competence vs. Performance 语言能力和语言运用：A language user's underlying

knowledge about the system of rules is called his linguistic competence. Performance refers to the

actual use of language in concrete situations.（by Chomsky）.

Chapter 2

1、Phonetics语音学: the study of speech sounds, which is part of phonology and provides the

means for describing speech sounds, and it studies how speech sounds are made, transmitted, and

received. Phonology音系学 is concerned with the linguistic knowledge of speech and the

ways in which these speech sounds form systems and patterns in human language.

Phonetics is the study of speech sounds. It includes three main areas:语音三领域1）Articulatory

发音phonetics – the study of the production of speech sounds2）Acoustic 声学phonetics –

the study of the physical properties of the sounds produced in speech3）perceptual or Auditory

phonetics感知听觉 – the study of perception of speech sounds

2、Consonants辅音: produced by constricting or obstructing the vocal tract at some place to pert,

impede, or completely shut off the flow of air in the oral cavity.

Vowels元音: produced without such obstruction so no turbulence or a total stopping of the air can

be perceived. 区别：the distinction between vowels and consonants lies in the obstruction of

airstream.阻塞气流。

3、 Manners of articulation:发音方式：stop/ plosive塞音 (oral stop, nasal鼻 stop)、 fricative

摩擦音、 approximant近似音、 lateral边音、affricate塞擦音、 nasal鼻音

Places of articulation:发音部位：bilabial双唇音、labiodental唇齿、dental齿间 、alveolar齿

龈、postalveolar齿龈后 、retroflex卷舌音、palatal 硬腭、velar软腭、glottal声门.

6、The description of vowels：1）. the height of tongue raising (high, mid, low)2）. the position

of the highest part of the tongue (front, central, back)3）. the length or tenseness of the vowel

(tense vs. lax or long vs. short)4）. Lip-rounding (rounded vs. unrounded)

7、Phoneme: (of French origin, means speech-sound) 音位a phonological unit of distinctive value.

It is an abstract unit. It’s represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context.

8、Minimal pair（最小对立体）: a pair of words between which the phonological difference is

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