胡壮麟语言学课堂练习题.doc

Chapter one I. Blank-filling. 1. Language is a system of ____ ____ symbols used for human communication. 2. Linguistics is generally defined as the ____ study of ____. 3. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. This famous quotation from Shakespeare illustrates that language has the design feature of ____. 4. The property of ____ of language provides a speaker with an opportunity to talk about a wide range of things, free from barriers caused by separation in time and place. 5. Language is a system, which consists of two sets of structures, one of ____, and the other of ____. This double articulation of language enables its users to talk about anything within their knowledge. II. True of False. 1. Linguistics can be defined as the scientific study of a particular language. 2. Language is arbitrary by nature but it is not completely arbitrary. 3. Animals are born with the capacity to produce the set of calls peculiar to their species, while human beings do not have this genetic basis. 5. Animals can not talk about the things except those about food, anger, enemy, etc. because the communicative signals of animals do not have the property of displacement. 6. We can use the word “word” to talk about a word, we can talk about “talk”, we can think about “thinking”, this shows that language has a metalingual function. 7. When someone breaks a bowl or a plate on a special occasion in China, the people present are likely to say “sui sui ping an” as a means of controlling the magic forces which the believers feel it might affect their lives. This shows that language has an interpersonal function. 8. Language is the instrument of thought, record of facts, and people often feel need to speak their thoughts aloud. This indicates that language has an expressive function. 9. A baby’s babbling, widespread use of verbal dueling, poetry writing as well as self-singing all show that language can be used to amuse the speakers. III. Questions. 1. How do you understand the de