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sentence. It is a type of generative grammar developed by C. J. Fillmore in the late 1960s.

V. Answer the following questions. (20%)

35. Why do people take duality as one of the important design features of human language? Can you tell us what language will be if it has no such design feature? （南开大学，2004）

Duality makes our language productive. A large number of different units can be formed out of a small number of elements – for instance, tens of thousands of words out of a small set of sounds, around 48 in the case of the English language. And out of the huge number of words, there can be astronomical number of possible sentences and phrases, which in turn can combine to form unlimited number of texts. Most animal communication systems do not have this design feature of human language.

If language has no such design feature, then it will be like animal communicational system which will be highly limited. It cannot produce a very large number of sound combinations, e.g. words, which are distinct in meaning.

36. Why is it difficult to define language? （北京第二外国语大学，2004）

It is difficult to define language, as it is such a general term that covers too many things. Thus, definitions for it all have their own special emphasis, and are not totally free from limitations.

35. What is acoustic phonetics? Acoustic phonetics deals with the transmission of speech sounds through the air. When a speech sound is produced it causes minor air disturbances (sound waves). Various instruments are used to measure the characteristics of these sound waves.（中国人民大学，2003）

36. What are the differences between voiced sounds and voiceless sounds in terms of articulation?（南开大学，2004）

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

V. Answer the following questions. (20%)

35. How many types of morphemes are there in the English language? What are they? （厦门大学，2003）

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36. What are the main features of the English compounds? Answer the following questions. (20%)

35. What are endocentric construction and exocentric construction? （武汉大学，2004）

An endocentric construction is one whose distribution is functionally equivalent, or approaching equivalence, to one of its constituents, which serves as the center, or head, of the whole. A typical example is the three small children with children as its head. The exocentric construction, opposite to the first type, is defined negatively as a construction whose distribution is not functionally equivalent to any of its constituents. Prepositional phrasal like on the shelf are typical examples of this type.

36. Distinguish the two possible meanings of ―more beautiful flowers‖ by means of IC analysis. （北京第二外国语大学，2004）

(1) more | beautiful flowers (2) more beautiful | flowers

V. Answer the following questions. (20%)

35. What are the sense relations between the following groups of words?

Dogs, cats, pets, parrots; trunk, branches, tree, roots （青岛海洋大学，1999）

Hyponymy, metonymy or part-whole relationship

36. What are the three kinds of antonymy ?（武汉大学，2004）

Complementary pairs are antonyms in which the presence of one quality or state signifies the absence of the other and vice versa. single/ married, not pregnant/pregnant There are no intermediate states. (Joking aside, you can't really be \ Gradable pairs are antonyms which allow for a natural, gradual transition between two poles: good/bad, hot/ cold . It is possible to be a little cold or very cold, etc.

Relational opposites are antonyms which share the same semantic features, only the focus, or direction, is reversed: tie/untie, buy/sell, give/receive, teacher/pupil, father/son. Answer the following questions. (20%)

35. Is American English superior to African English? Why or why not? （中国人民大学，2003） American English is not superior to African English. As different branches of English, African English and American English are equal. Similar as they are, they are influenced by their respective cultural context and thus form respective systems of pronunciation, words and even grammar.

36. If we take it as rule that language is intimately related to culture, then how do the kinship words, such as uncle and aunt, reflect the cultural differences between English and Chinese? （东北师范大学，2004）

In China, Chinese has a more strict and complex relationship system. So in Chinese there are a lot

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more kinship words than in English

V. Answer the following questions. (20%)

35. Explain the following remarks with examples or make some comments.

―Both semantics and pragmatics are concerned with meaning, but the difference between them can be traced to two different uses of the verb mean: (a) What does X mean? (b) What did you mean by X?‖ （东北师范大学，2006）

Pragmatics is the study of the use of language in communication, particularly the relationships between sentences and the contexts and situations in which they are used. Pragmatics includes the study of

(1) How the interpretation and use of utterances depends on knowledge of the real world;

(2) How speakers use and understand speech acts;

(3) How the structure of sentences is influenced by the relationship between the

speaker and the hearer.

Pragmatics is sometimes contrasted with semantics, which deals with meaning without reference to the users and communicative functions of sentences.

36. Do you think B is cooperative in the following dialogue? Support your argument with Cooperative Principle. （南开大学，2004） A: When is the bus coming?

B: There has been an accident further up the road.

Yes, B is cooperative. On the face of it, B’s statement is not an answer to A’s question. B doesn’t say ―when.‖ However, A will immediately interpret the statement as meaning ―I don’t know‖ or ―I am not sure.‖ Just assume that B is being ―relevant‖ and ―informative.‖ Given that B’s answer contains relevant information, A can work out that ―an accident further up the road‖ conventionally involves ―traffic jam,‖ and ―traffic jam‖ preludes ―bus coming.‖ Thus, B’s answer is not simply a statement of ―when the bus comes‖; it contains an implicature concerning ―when the bus comes.‖

V. Answer the following questions. (20%)

35. Why is Saussure hailed as the father of modern linguistics?

①Saussure was the first to notice the complexities of language. ②He believed that language is a system of signs. ③He also held that the sign is the union of the signifier and the signified. Saussure made clear the object of study for linguistics as a science. His ideas pushed linguistics into a brand new stage, such as the arbitrary nature of sign, distinction of langue and parole and synchronic and diachronic linguistics.

36. What is behaviorism? What is behaviorism in linguistics? What is the relationship between linguistics and behaviorism according to Bloomfield? Does behaviorism have any limitations? If yes, what are they?

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VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%) VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%) VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%) VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%) VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%)

37. How can a linguist make his analysis scientific? （青岛海洋大学，1999）

It should be guided by the four principles of science: exhaustiveness, consistency, economy and objectivity and follow the scientific procedure: form hypothesis – collect data – check against the observable facts – come to a conclusion.

37. Write the symbol that corresponds to each of the following phonetic descriptions; then give an English word that contains this sound. Example: voiced alveolar stop [d] dog. （青岛海洋大学，1999）

(1) voiceless bilabial unaspirated stop (2) low front vowel (3) lateral liquid (4) velar nasal

(5) voiced interdental fricative

VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%)

37. Match the terms under COLUMN I with the underlined forms from COLUMN II （武汉大学，2004）

I II

c(1) acronym a. foe a(2) free morpheme b. subconscious e(3) derivational morpheme c. UNESCO d(4) inflectional morpheme d. overwhelmed b(5) prefix e. calculation

VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%)

37. Draw a tree diagram according to the PS rules to show the deep structure of the sentence: The student wrote a letter yesterday. S

NP VP ADV

DET N V NP ADV

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DET N

37. For each group of words given below, state what semantic property or properties are shared by the (a) words and the (b) words, and what semantic property or properties distinguish between the classes of (a) words and (b) words.

(1) a. bachelor, man, son, paperboy, pope, chief b. bull, rooster, drake, ram The (a) words and (b) words are male.

The (a) words are human, while the (b) words are non-human (2) a. table, stone, pencil, cup, house, ship, car b. milk, alcohol, rice, soup The (a) words and (b) words are inanimate.

The (a) words are instrumental, while the (b) words are edible. (3) a. book, temple, mountain, road, tractor

b. idea, love, charity, sincerity, bravery, fear （青岛海洋大学，1999） The (a) words and (b) words are worldly or conceptual. The (a) words are material, while the (b) words are spiritual.

37.Explain the differences between registers and regional/social dialects. Give examples if necessary. （东北师范大学，2005）

37. What is the function of context in communication? Try to explain the following utterances rather than just state facts.

It occurs before and / or after a word, a phrase or even a longer utterance or a text. The context often helps in understanding the particular meaning of the word, phrase, etc.

The context may also be the broader social situation in which a linguistic item is used. (1) The room is messy.

a. A mild criticism of someone who should have cleaned the room.

b. In a language class where a student made a mistake, for he intended to say ―tidy.‖ c. The room was wanted for a meeting.

(2) It would be good if she had a green skirt on.

a. A mild way to express disagreement with someone who has complimented on a lady’s appearance.

b. A regret that the customer had not taken the dress.

c. hat she wore a red shirt was not in agreement with the custom on the occasion.

VI. Analyze the following situation. (20%)

37. Can you make a brief introduction to some important schools and their influential representatives in modern linguistics?

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