英語專業(yè)考研語言學(xué)復(fù)習(xí)大綱語言史

1、Chapter 7 ： Historical Linguistics I. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:1. One of the tasks of the historical linguists is to explore methodsto reconstruct linguistic history and establish the relationship between languages.2. Language change is a gradual and constant

2、process, therefore often indiscernible to speakers of the same generation.3. The history of the English language is divided into the periods of Old English, Middle English and Modern English.4. Middle English began with the arrival of Anglo-Saxons, who invaded the British Isles from northern Europe.

3、5. In Old English, all the nouns are inflected to mark nominative, genitive, dative and accusative cases.6. In Old English, the verb of a sentence often precedes the subject rather than follows it.7. A direct consequence of the Renaissance Movementwas the revival of French as a literary language.8.

4、In general, linguistic change in grammaris more noticeable than that in the sound system and the vocabulary of a language.9. The sound changes include changes in vowel sounds, and in the loss, gain and movement of sounds.10. The least widely-spread morphological changes in thehistorical development

5、of English are the loss and addition of affixes.11. In Old English, the morphosyntactic rule of adjective agreement stipulated that the endings of adjective must agree with the head noun in case, number and gender.12. The word order of Modern English is more variable than that of Old English.13. Der

6、ivation refers to the process by which new words are formed by the addition of affixes to the roots, stems, or words.14. “Smog” is a word formed by the word-forming process calledacronymy.15. “fridge ” is a word formed b y abbreviation.16. Modern linguists are able to provide a consistent account fo

7、rthe exact causes of all types of language change.17. Sound assimilation may bring about the loss of one of twophonetically similar syllables in sequence, as in the case of change of “Engla - land ” to “England”.18. Rule elaboration occurs whenthere is a need to reduce ambiguity and increase communi

8、cative clarity or expressiveness.19. Language change is always a change towards the simplificationof language rules20. The way children acquire the language is one of the causes for language change.II. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:21. H lingui

9、stics is the subfield of linguistics thatstudies language change.22. The historical study of language is a d study ofIan guage rather tha n a synchronic study.23. Europea n RMoveme nt separates the period of MiddleEnglish from that of modern English.24. An importa nt set of exte nsive sound cha nges

10、, which affected 7long or tense vowels and which led to one of the major discrepa ncies betwee n phon emic represe ntatio ns of words and morphemes at the end of the Middle En glish Period, is known as the Great VShift.25. Ainvo Ives the deleti on of a word-fi nal vowel segme nt.26. A cha nge that i

11、nvo Ives the in serti on of a consonant or vowelsound to the middle of a word is known as e.27. The three sets of consonant shifts that Grimmdiscovered becameknown collectively as Grimm s L.28. Sound change as a result of sound movement, known as m,invo Ives a reversal in positi on of two adjoining

12、sound segme nts.29. Bis a process by which new words are formed by takingaway the supposed suffixes of exit ing words.30. Sema ntic brefers to the process in which the meaningof a word becomes more gen eral or in clusive tha n its historically earlier deno tati on.31. The originalform of a Ianguage

13、family that has ceased to existis called the p.32. Sound arefers to the physiological effect of one soundon another. In this process, successive sounds are made identical orsimilar to one another in terms of place or manner of articulation.33. In order to reduce the excepti onal or irregular morphem

14、es, speakers of a particular Ian guage may borrow a rule from one part ofthe grammara nd apply it gen erally. This phe nomen onis called iborrow ing.34. By ide ntify ing and compari ng similar lin guistic forms withsimilar meanings across related Ianguages, historical linguists recon struct the prot

15、o form in the com mon an cestral la nguage. This process is called crec on structi on.35. The mrule of adjective agreeme nt has bee n lost fromEn glish.III. There are four choices follow ing each stateme nt. Mark the choicethat can best complete the stateme nt:36. Historical li nguistics explores.A.

16、 the n ature of Ian guage cha ngeB. the causes that lead to Ian guage cha ngeC. the relati on ship betwee n Ian guagesD. all of the above37. Lan guagecha nge is.A. universal, continuousand ,to alarge extent,regular andsystematicB. con ti nu ous, regular, systematic, but not uni versalC. uni versal,

17、con ti nu ous, but not regular and systematicD. always regular and systematic, but not universal and continuous38. Moder n En glish period starts roughly.A. from 449 to 1100B. from1500 totheprese ntC. from1100 totheprese ntD. from1700 totheprese nt39. OldEnglishdates back to the mid-fifth century wh

18、en.A. the NormanFrench invaders under William the Conqueror arrived in En gla ndB. the printing tech no logy was inven tedC. An glo-Sax ons inv aded the British Isles from n orther n EuropeD. the Celtic people bega n to in habit En gla nd40. Middle En glish was deeply in flue need by.A. Norma n Fren

19、ch in vocabulary and grammarB. Greek and Lat in because of the Europea n ren aissa nee moveme ntC. Danish Ian guages because Denmark placed a king on the throne of En gla ndD. the Celtic people who were the first in habita nts of En gla nd41. Lan guage cha nge is esse ntially a matter of cha nge.A.

20、i n collocati onsB. i n meaningC. in grammarD. in usages42. In Old and Middle English,both /k/ and /n/ in the word“knight ” were pronounced, but in modern English, /k/ in the sound/kn-/ clusters was not pronounced. This phenomenons known as.A. sound additi onB. sound lossC. sound shiftD. sound movem

21、e nt43. A cha nge that invo Ives the in serti on of a consonant or vowel sound to the middle of a word is known as .A. apocopeB. epe nthesisC. pare nthesisD. an tithesis44. Segme nt switch of sound positi ons can be see n in the exampleof the modern word “ bird ” which comes from the old English wor

22、d“ bridd ” . The change of the word from “ bridd ” to “ bird ” is a cas e of.A. metathesisB. sound lossC. sound additi onD. apocope45.is a process oflexical un bining two or more words into oneA. Derivati onB. Ble ndingC. Compo undingD. Abbreviati on46.“Wife” , which used to refer to any woman

23、, stands for“ amarried woman in modernEnglish. This phenomenonsknown asA.sema ntic shiftB. sema ntic broade ningC.sema ntic elevati onD. sema ntic n arrowi ng47.En glish lang uage bel ongs to.A.In do-Europea n FamilyB. Si no-Tibeta n FamilyC.Austro nesia n FamilyD. Afroasiatic Family48.By analogy to

24、 the plural formation of the worddog- s ,speakers started say ing“cows” as the plural of“ cow” in stead ofthe earlier plural“kine ” . This is the case ofA. elaborati onC. sound assimilati onB. exter nal borrow ingD. i nternal borrowi ng歡迎下載349. Morphologcial cha nges can invo Ive.A. the loss of morp

25、hological rulesB. the additi on of morphological rulesC. the alterati on of morphological rulesD. all of the above50. The most dramatic morphological loss concerns the loss ofA. comparative markersB. tense markersC. gen der and case markersD. none of the aboveIV. Define the following terms:51. Apoco

26、pe52. Metathesis53. Derivati on54.back-formatio n55.sema nticn arrowi ng56. protola nguage57. haplology58. epe nthesis59. Compo unding60. Ble nding61. sema ntic broade ning 62. sema ntic shift63. Great Vowel Shift64. acron ym65. sou ndassimilatio nV. An swer the follow ing questi ons:66. What is the

27、 purpose or sig ni fica nee of the historical study of Ian guage?67. What are the characteristics of the n ature of Ian guage cha nge?68. What are the major periods in the history of En glish?69. As Ian guage cha nges over time, the meaning of a word may deviate from its original denotation. Discuss

28、 the major types of semanticcha nges.70. Over the years from Old English period to the Modern English period, English has undergone some major sound changes. Illustrate these cha nges with some examples.71. What are the most widely-spread morphologicalchanges in thehistorical developme nt of En glis

29、h?72. What are the causes of Ian guage cha nge? Discuss them in detail.Chapter 7 Historical Lin guisticsI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:I. T 2.T 3.T 4.F 5.F 6.T 7.F 8.F 9.T 10.FII. T 12.F 13.T 14.F 15.F 16. F 17. T 18. T 19. F 20.TII. Fill in each of the followi n

30、gbla nks withone word which beg ins withthe letter give n:21.HistoricaI22.diachr onic23.Re naissa tola nguageparative24. VoweI25. Apocope26.epe nthesis27.LawMetathesis 29.Backformatio n 30.broade ning 32.assimilatio n 33. internalmorphos yn tacticIII. There are four choices follow ing ea

31、ch stateme nt. Mark the choicethat can best complete the stateme nt:36.D 37.A 38.B 39.C 40.A 41.C 42.B 43.B 44.A 45.C46. D 47.A 48. D 49. D 50. CIV. Define the following terms:1. Apocope : Apocope is the deleti on of a word-fi nal vowel segme nt.2. Metathesis: Sound cha nge as a result of sound move

32、me nt is known as metathesis. It invoIves a reversal in position of two neighbouring sound segme nts.3. Derivatio n: It is a process by which new words are formed by the additi on of affixes to the roots, stems or words.4. back-formatio n: It is a process by which new words are formed by tak ing awa

33、y the supposed suffix of an existi ng word.5. sema ntic n arrow ing: Sema ntic n arrowi ng is a process in which themeaning of a word becomes less general or inclusivethan itshistorically earlier meaning.6. Protolanguage: It is the original form of a Ianguage family that has ceased to exist.7. Haplo

34、logy: It refers to the phe nomenon of the loss of one of twophonetically similar syllables in sequenee.8. Epe nthesis: A cha nge that invo Ives the in serti on of a consonantor vowel sound to the middle of a word is known as epe nthesis.9. Compounding: It is a process of combining two or more than t

35、wo words into one lexical un it.10. Ble nding: It is a process of forming a new word by comb ining parts of other words.11. semantic broadening: Semantic broadening refers to the process in which the meaning of a word becomesmore general or inclusive than its historically earlier deno tati on.62. se

36、mantic shift: Semantic shift is a process of semantic change in which a word loses its former meaning and acquires a new, sometimes related, meaning.63. Great Vowel Shift:It is a series of systematic sound change at theend of the Middle English period approximately between 1400 and 1600 inthe histor

37、y of En glish that invo Ived seve n long vowels and con seque ntly led to one of the major discrepa ncies betwee n En glish pronun ciati on and its spelling system.64. Acronym: An acronym is a word created by combining the initials ofa nu mber of words.65. sound assimilati on:Sound assimilatio n ref

38、ers to thephysiological effect of one sound on another. In an assimilativeprocess, successive sounds are made identical, or more similar, to one ano ther in terms of place or manner of articulati on, or of haplology.V. An swer the follow ing questi ons:66. What is the purpose or sig ni fica nee of t

39、he historical study ofIan guage?1) Researches in historical linguistics shed light on prehistoric developme nts in the evolutio n of Ian guage and the conn ecti ons of earlier and later varia nts of the same Ian guage and provide valuablein sights into the ki nship patter ns of differe nt Ian guages

40、.2) The identificationof the changes that a particularIanguage hasun derg one en ables us to recon struct the lin guistic history of thatIanguage, and thereby hypothesizes its earlier forms from which curre nt speech and writ ing have evolved.3) The historical study of Ian guage also en ables them t

41、o determ inehow non - linguisticfactors, such as social, cultural andpsychological factors, in teract over time to cause lin guistic cha nge.67. What are the characteristics of the n ature of Ian guage cha nge?All liv ing Ian guages cha nge with time an d Ian guage cha nge is in evitable. As a gen e

42、ral rule, la nguage cha nge is uni versal, con ti nu ous and, to a considerable degree, regular and systematic.Language change is extensive,taking place in virtually all aspects of the grammar.Although Ian guage cha nge is uni versal, i nevitable, and in some cases, vigorous, it is never an overnigh

43、t occurrenee, but a gradual and constant process, ofte n in discer nible to speakers of the same gen eratio n.68. What are the major periods in the history of En glish?The major periods in the history of En glish are Old En glish period (roughly from 449 to 1100), Middle English period(roughly from

44、1100 to 1500), and Modern English period (roughly from 1500 to the present). Old English dates back to the mid-fifth century whenAnglo-Saxons invaded the British Isles from no rther n Europe.The pronunciationof Old English is very differentfrom its modenfiorm.For example, the Old English word ham is

45、 pronounced as /ha:m/. In terms of morphology, nearly half of the nouns are inflected to mark nominative , genitive, dative, and accusative cases . In addition,suffixes are addedto verbs to in dicate ten se. Syn tactically , the verb of an Old En glish sentence precedes, hut does not follow, the sub

46、ject.MiddleEnglish began when the NormanFrench invaders invaded Englandun der William the Conq ueror in 1066. Middle En glish had bee n deeply in flue need by Norma n French in vocabulary and grammar. For example, such terms as army, court, defense, faith,prison and tax camefrom the Ianguage of the

47、French rulers.Moder n En glish period starts with Europea n ren aissa nee moveme nt. A direct con seque nee of the Ren aissa nee moveme nt was the revival of Lati n as a literary Ianguage. In the post-Renaissanee period, the British Empire set up En glish-speak ing colonies in many parts of the worl

48、d. By the nin etee nth een tury, En glish was recog ni zed as the Ian guage of the gover nment, the law, higher educati on, and bus in ess and commerce in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Today Modern English is widely used and has in fact become an important tool of internation

49、al com muni cati on among peoples of differe nt eoun tries.69. As Ian guage cha nges over time, the meaning of a word may deviatefrom its original denotation. Discuss the major types of semantic cha nges.Major types of sema ntic cha nges aresema ntic broade ning, sema nticn arrowi ng and sema ntic s

50、hift.Semantic broadening refers to the process in which the meaning of a word becomes more general or inclusive than its historically earlier denotation. Take the word holiday for example, The older meaning was a holy day. Today every one enjoys a holiday, whether he or she is religious or not.Seman

51、tic narrowing is a process in which the meaning of a word becomes less general or inclusive than its historically earlier meaning. For example, wife, used to mean any woman, but now i t means “married fe - males” only.Sema ntic shiftis a process of sema ntic cha nge in which a word losesits former m

52、eaning and acquires a new, sometimes related, meaning. Forexample, the word silly meant “happy” in Old English, and naive in Middle En glish, but foolish in Moder n En glish.70. Over the years from Old En glish period to the Moder n En glishperiod, En glish has un derg one some major sound cha nges.

53、 Illustrate these cha nges with some examples.The major sound cha nges in clude cha nges in vowel soun ds, and in the loss, gain and moveme nt of soun ds.The changes in vowel sounds can be seen in theGreat Vowel Shift inthe history of English, which led to one of the major disagreements between the

54、pronunciation and the spelling system of Modern English. These changes invo Ive seve n long, or tense vowels, for exampleWordsMiddle En glishModem En glishFivefi:vfaivMouseMu:smausFeetfe:tfi:tMoodMo:dmu:dBreakBr :k enbreikSounds do not just change, they can be lost. vowel sounds change, but somesoun

55、ds simply disappeared from the general pronunciation of English. One example of sound loss is the /kn - / clusters in the word - in itial positi on. In Old and Middle En glish, both /k/ and /n/ were pronoun ced, as is shown in the spellingof such words as knightand knee. AlthoughModern English spell

56、ing of these words still keeps the initial letter k, its sound is no Ion ger pronoun ced.Sound changes can also take the form of sound addition.Sound addition in eludes the gain or in serti on of a sound, for example:spi nlesp in dle_emty empty_Sound change can take the form of sound movement. It in

57、voIves a reversal in position of two neighbouring sound segments. For example, the /r/ sound in the Old English words bridd (bird) and hros (horse) was moved to the right of the vowel sounds in their ModenEnglish counterparts bird and horse.71. What are the most widely-spread morphologicalchanges in thehistorical developme nt of En glish?The most widely-spread morphological changes in the historical developme nt of En glishare the loss and additi on of a