一、判断
Passage one:
The study of how we do things with sentence is the study of speech acts. In studying speech acts, we are acutely aware of the importance of the context of utterance. In some circumstances There is a sheepdog in the closet is a warning, but the same sentence may be a promise or even a mere statement of fact, depending on circumstances. We call this purpose----a warning, a promise, a threat, or whatever----the illocutionary force of a speech act.
Speech act theory aims to tell us when we appear to ask questions but are really giving orders, or when we say one thing with special (sarcastic) intonation and mean the opposite. Thus, at a dinner table, the question Can you pass the salt? means the order Pass the salt! It is not a request for information, and yes is an inappropriate response.
1.Illocutionary acts are special case of speech acts, referring to the speaker’s intention in uttering something.
2.Because the illocutionary force of a speech act depends on the context of the utterance, speech act theory is a part of pragmatics.
3.In most cases, the illocutionary force of “Look out!” is a suggestion.
4.The speech act theory originated with the British philosophy John Austin in the late 70’s.
5.Billy and Joe were long-time pals. One time Billy was in desperate need of money. His car had broken down and he needed $300 to fix it. So, he asked Joe for a load. Joe said he could lend Billy the money. This made Billy happy and he said to Joe;
(a) “You are a terrible friend.”
It is non-sarcastic answer.
(b) “You are a fine friend.”
It is a sarcastic one.
Passage two
Inflectional is a term used in Morphology to refer to one of the two main categories or processes of sword formation, the other being derivational. These terms also apply to the two types of affix involved in word formation. Inflectional affixes signal grammatical relationships, such as plural, past tense and possession, and do not change the grammatical class of the stems t which they are attached; that is, the words constitute a single paradigm, e.g. walk, walks, walked. A word is said to “inflect for” past tense, plural, etc. In traditional (pre-linguistic) grammatical studies, the term “accidence” was used in this sense.
In the phrase inflecting language (“inflectional” or “inflected” language), the term refers to a type of language established by comparative linguistics using structural (as opposed to diachronic) criteria, and focusing on the characteristics of the word. In this kind of language, words display grammatical relationships morphologically: they typically contain more than one morpheme but, unlike agglutinative languages, there is no one-to-one correspondence between these morphemes and the linear sequence of morphs. In languages such as Latin, Greek, Arabic etc. the inflectional forms of words may represent several morphological oppositions, e.g. in Latin amo(I love), the form simultaneously represents present tense, active, first person singular, indicative. This “fusing” of properties has led to such languages being called fusional and had motivated the word-and-a model of analysis. As always in such classifications, the categories are not clear-cut: different languages will display the characteristic of inflection to a greater or lesser degree.
1.A language in which nouns have inflectional properties is an inflectional language.
2.The affix “un-” or “dis-” is an inflectional affix.
3.The agglutinative language is a language that typically expresses concepts in complex words consisting of many elements, rather than by inflection or by using isolated elements.
4.Many English adjectives have inflectional properties.
5.The Chinese language is an agglutinative language.
Passage three
Each tongue draws a circle about the people whom it belongs, and it is possible to leave this circle only by simultaneously entering that of another people. Learning a foreign language ought hence to be the conquest of a new standpoint in the previously prevailing cosmic attitude of the individual. In fact, it is so to a certain extent, inasmuch as every language contains the entire fabric of concepts and the conceptual approach of a portion of humanity. But this achievement is not complete, because one always carries over into a foreign tongue to a greater or lesser degree one’s own cosmic viewpoint—indeed one’s personal linguistic pattern.
(von Humboldt [1836]1971:39-40)
1.This passage mainly discusses the relationship between one’s personal linguistic pattern and a foreign language.
2.According to the author of this passage, language is a powerful instrument that allows us to make sense of the world.
3.This passage reveals the fact that one’s own cosmic viewpoint determines linguistic orientation.
4.The author of this passage seems to believe that language and the world outlook are two sides of the coin.
5.The author of this passage seems to advocate that one’s language presupposes one’s way of thinking.
二、问答
1.Give examples to illustrate several different approaches to meaning.
2.Why do we need two principles of conversation, i.e. the cooperative principle and the politeness principle?
3.What does it mean that a linguist is interested in what is said, not what he thinks ought to be said?
4.What is the advantage of IC analysis? Take “Drive the car near the station” as an example.
5.Describe briefly the social differences in the use of language among speakers of the Chinese language.
三、评论
State clearly the interrelationship between language and cognition, giving theoretical analysis as well as empirical illustration.
