英语语言学教程-考试精华.docVIP

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