语言学导论复习题.doc

Introduction I. Blank-filling 1. The description of a language at some point of time in history is a synchronice_____ linguistic study; the description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic______ linguistic study. Modern linguists tend to prefer a synchronic______ approach to a diachronic______ one. 2. Speech______ and writing______ are the two major media of linguistic communication. Modern linguistics regards the speech______ language as the primary medium of human language. 3. If a linguistic study aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, it is said to be descriptive_______; if the linguistic study aims to lay down rules for “correct and standard” behavior in using language, it is said to be prescriptive______. 4. Langue______ refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community, and parole______ refers to the realization of langue in actual use. 5. Language is a system of arbitrary_______ vocal symbols used for human communication______. 6. Competence______ can be defined as the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language, and performance______ can be defined as the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication. 7. Language is arbitrary______ in the sense that there is no intrinsic本质的 connection between a linguistic symbol and what the symbol stands for. 8. The fact that children acquire spoken language before they can read or write also indicates that language is primarily vocal______. 9. Language is productive______ or creative in that its users can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences, including sentences they have never heard before. 10. Language can be used to refer to things which are present or absent, real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future, or in far-away places. This is what displacement______ means. 11. The study of language as a whole is often called general______ linguistics. 12. Linguistics can be defin