語言學(xué)重點(diǎn)難點(diǎn)簡略

1.Whatislanguage?

uLanguageissystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.Itisasystem,sincelinguistic

elementsarearrangedsystematically,ratherthanrandomly.Arbitrary,inthesensethatthereisusuallynointrinsic

connectionbetweenawork(like“book")andtheobjectitrefersto.Thisexplainsandisexplainedbythefactthat

differentlanguageshavedifferent“books"："book"inEnglish,“l(fā)ivre“inFrench,"shu”inChinese.Itissymbolic,

becausewordsareassociatedwithobjects,actions,ideasetc.bynothingbutconvention.Namely,peopleusethesounds

orvocalformstosymbolizewhattheywishtoreferto.Itisvocal,becausesoundorspeechistheprimarymediumforall

humanlanguages.Writingsystemscamemuchlaterthanthespokenforms.Thefactthatsmallchildrenlearnandcan

onlylearntospeak(andlisten)beforetheywrite(andread)alsoindicatesthatlanguageisprimarilyvocal,ratherthan

written.Thetermuhuman“inthedefinitionismeanttospecifythatlanguageishumanspecific.

2.Whataredesignfeaturesoflanguage?

uDesignfeatureshererefertothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethattellthedifferencebetweenhuman

languageandanysystemofanimalcommunication.Theyarearbitrariness,duality,productivity,displacement,cultural

transmissionandinterchangeability

3.Whatisarbitrariness?

Byaarbitrariness,wemeanthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.Adogmightbeapigifonly

thefirstpersonorgroupofpersonshaduseditforapig.Languageisthereforelargelyarbitrary.Butlanguageisnot

absolutelyseemtobesomesound-meaningassociation,ifwethinkofechowords,like“bang","crash"，“roar”,

whicharemotivatedinacertainsense.Secondly,somecompounds(wordscompoundedtobeoneword)arenotentirely

arbitraryeither."Type”and"write”areopaqueorunmotivatedwords,while“type-writer”islessso,ormore

transparentormotivatedthanthewordsthatmakeit.Sowecansay“arbitrariness“isamatterofdegree.

4.Whatisduality?

Linguistsrefer“duality”(ofstructure)tothefactthatinalllanguagessofarinvestigated,onefindstwolevelsof

structureorpatterning.Atthefirst,higherlevel,languageisanalyzedintermsofcombinationsofmeaningfulunits(such

asmorphemes,wordsetc.);atthesecond,lowerlevel,itisseenasasequenceofsegmentswhichlackanymeaningin

themselves,butwhichcombinetoformunitsofmeaning.AccordingtoHuZhanglinetal.,languageisasystemoftwo

setsofstructures,oneofsoundsandtheotherofmeaning.Thisisimportantfortheworkingsoflanguage.Asmall

numberofsemanticunits(words),andtheseunitsofmeaningcanbearrangedandrearrangedintoaninfinitenumberof

sentences(notethatwehavedictionariesofwords,butnodictionaryofsentences!).Dualitymakesitpossiblefora

persontotalkaboutanythingwithinhisknowledge.Noanimalcommunicationsystemenjoysthisduality.

5.Whatisproductivity?

Productivityreferstotheabilitytotheabilitytoconstructandunderstandanindefinitelylargenumberofsentencesin

one*snativelanguage,includingthosethathasneverheardbefore,butthatareappropriatetothespeakingsituation.No

onehaseversaidorhearduAred-eyedelephantisdancingonthesmallhotelbedwithanAfricangibbonw,buthecan

sayitwhennecessary,andhecanunderstanditinrightregister.Differentfromartisticcreativity,though,productivity

nevergoesoutsidethelanguage,thusalsocalledurule-boundcreativity”(byN.Chomsky).

6.Whatisdisplacement?

“Displacement”,asoneofthedesignfeaturesofthehumanlanguage,referstothefactthatonecantalkaboutthings

thatarenotpresent,aseasilyashedoesthingspresent.Inotherwords,onecanrefertorealandunrealthings,thingsof

thepast,ofthepresent,ofthefuture.Languageitselfcanbetalkedabouttoo.Whenaman,forexample,iscryingtoa

woman,aboutsomething,itmightbesomethingthathadoccurred,orsomethingthatisoccurring,orsomethingthatisto

occur.Whenadogisbarking,however,youcandecideitisbarkingforsomethingoratsomeonethatexistsnowand

there.Itcouldn'tbebow-wowingsorrowfullyforabonetobelost.Thebee,ssystem,nonetheless,hasasmallshareof

“displacement"，butitisanunspeakabletinyshare.

7.Whatisculturaltransmission?

Thismeansthatlanguageisnotbiologicallytransmittedfromgenerationtogeneration,butthatthedetailsofthe

linguisticsystemmustbelearnedanewbyeachspeaker.Itistruethatthecapacityforlanguageinhumanbeings(N.

Chomskycalleditlanguageacquisitiondevice”,orLAD)hasageneticbasis,buttheparticularlanguageaperson

learnstospeakisaculturaloneotherthanageneticonelikethedog,sbarkingsystem.Ifahumanbeingisbroughtupin

isolationhecannotacquirelanguage.TheWolfChildrearedbythepackofwolvesturnedouttospeakthewolf'sroaring

“tongue“whenhewassaved.Helearnedthereafter,withnosmalldifficulty,theABCofacertainhumanlanguage.

8.Whatisinterchangeability?

Interchangeabilitymeansthatanyhumanbeingcanbebothaproducerandareceiverofmessages.Thoughsomepeople

suggestthatthereis***differentiationintheactuallanguageuse,inotherwords,menandwomenmaysaydifferent

things,yetinprinciplethereisnosound,orwordorsentencethatamancanutterandawomancannot,orviceversa.On

theotherhand,apersoncanbethespeakerwhiletheotherpersonisthelistenerandastheturnmovesontothelistener,

hecanbethespeakerandthefirstspeakeristolisten.Itisturn-takingthatmakessocialcommunicationpossibleand

acceptable.Somemalebirds,however,uttersomecallswhichfemalesdonot(orcannot).Whenadogbarks,allthe

neighboringdogsbark.Thenpeoplearoundcanhardlytellwhichdog(dogs)is(are)“speaking“andwhichlistening.

9.Whydolinguistssaylanguageishumanspecific?

Firstofall,humanlanguagehassixadesignfeatureswhichanimalcommunicationsystemsdonothave,atleastnotin

thetruesenseofthem.Secondly,linguistshavedonealottryingtoteachanimalssuchaschimpanzeestospeakahuman

languagebuthaveachievednothinginspiring.Washoe,afemalechimpanzee,wasbroughtuplikeahumanchildby

BeatniceandAlanGardner.ShewastaughtuAmericansignLanguage,andlearnedalittlethatmadetheteachers

happybutdidmotmakethelinguisticscirclehappy,forfewbelievedinteachingchimpanzees.Thirdly,ahumanchild

rearedamonganimalscannotspeakahumanlanguage,notevenwhenheistakenbackandtaughttodoso.

10.Whatfunctionsdoeslanguagehave?

Languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:phatic,directive,Informative,interrogative,expressive,evocativeand

performative.AccordingtoWangGang(1988,p.l1),languagehasthreemainfunctions:atoolofcommunication,atool

wherebypeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeople

createart.M.A.K.Halliday,representativeoftheLondonschool,recognizesthreeuMacro-Functions:ideational,

interpersonalandtextual.

11.Whatisthephaticfunction?

The"phaticfunction“referstolanguagebeingusedforsettingupacertainatmosphereormaintainingsocial

contacts(ratherthanforexchanginginformationorideas).Greetings,farewells,andcommentsontheweatherinEnglish

andonclothinginChineseallservethisfunction.Muchofthephaticlanguage(e.g."Howareyou?”“Fine,thanks.")

isinsincereiftakenliterally,butitisimportant.Ifyoudon*tsay“Hello“toafriendyoumeet,orifyoudon'tanswer

his“Hi”,youruinyourfriendship.

12.Whatisthedirectivefunction?

The“directivefunctionMmeansthatlanguagemaybeusedtogetthehearertodosomething.Mostimperative

sentencesperformthisfunction,e.g.,“Tellmetheresultwhenyoufinish."Othersyntacticstructuresorsentencesof

othersortscan,accordingtoJ.AustinandJ.Searle'suIndirectspeechacttheory“atleast,servethepurposeof

directiontoo,e.g.,“IfIwereyou,Iwouldhaveblushedtothebottomofmyears!”

13.Whatistheinformativefunction?

Languageservesan^informationalfunctionwwhenusedtotellsomething,characterizedbytheuseofdeclarative

sentences.Informativestatementsareoftenlabelledastrue(truth)orfalse(falsehood).AccordingtoP.Grice's

uCooperativePrinciple,oneoughtnottoviolatethe“MaximofQuality,whenheisinformingatall.

14.Whatistheinterrogativefunction?

Whenlanguageisusedtoobtaininformation,itservesan^interrogativefunction.Thisincludesallquestionsthat

expectreplies,statements,imperativesetc.,accordingtotheuindirectspeechacttheorymayhavethisfunctionaswell,

e.g.,“I'dliketoknowyoubetter."Thismaybringforthalotofpersonalinformation.Notethatrhetoricalquestions

makeanexception,sincetheydemandnoanswer,atleastnotthereader's/listener,sanswer.

15.Whatistheexpressivefunction?

The"expressivefunction“istheuseoflanguagetorevealsomethingaboutthefeelingsorattitudesofthespeaker.

Subconsciousemotionalejaculationsaregoodexamples,like“Goodheavens!”“MyGod!”Sentenceslike'T

msorryaboutthedelayncanserveasgoodexamplestoo,thoughinasubtleway.Whilelanguageisusedforthe

informativefunctiontopassjudgmentonthetruthorfalsehoodofstatements,languageusedfortheexpressivefunction

evaluates,appraisesorassertsthespeakerJsownattitudes.

16.Whatistheevocativefunction?

The“evocativefunctionistheuseoflanguagetocreatecertainfeelingsinthehearer.Itsaimis,forexample,to

amuse,startle,antagonize,soothe,worryorplease.Jokes(notpracticaljokes,though)aresupposedtoamuseorentertain

thelistener;advertisingtourgecustomerstopurchasecertaincommodities;propagandatoinfluencepublicopinion.

Obviously,theexpressiveandtheevocativefunctionsoftengotogether,i.e.,youmayexpress,forexample,your

personalfeelingsaboutapoliticalissuebutendupbyevokingthesamefeelingin,orimposingiton,yourlistener.That'

salsothecasewiththeotherwayround.

17.Whatistheperformativefunction?

Thismeanspeoplespeakto“dothings”orperformactions.Oncertainoccasionstheutteranceitselfasanactionis

moreimportantthanwhatwordsorsoundsconstitutetheutteredsentence.Thejudge'simprisonmentsentence,the

president,swarorindependencedeclaration,etc.,areperformatives.

18.Whatislinguistics?

“Linguistics“isthescientificstudyoflanguage.Itstudiesnotjustonelanguageofanyonesociety,butthelanguageof

allhumanbeings.Alinguist,though,doesnothavetoknowandusealargenumberoflanguages,buttoinvestigatehow

eachlanguageisconstructed.Heisalsoconcernedwithhowalanguagevariesfromdialecttodialect,fromclasstoclass,

howitchangesfromcenturytocentury,howchildrenacquiretheirmothertongue,andperhapshowapersonlearnsor

shouldlearnaforeignlanguage.Inshort,linguisticsstudiesthegeneralprincipleswhereuponallhumanlanguagesare

constructedandoperateassystemsofcommunicationintheirsocietiesorcommunitieso

19.Whatmakeslinguisticsascience?

Sincelinguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage,itoughttobaseitselfuponthesystematic,investigationoflanguage

datawhichaimsatdiscoveringthetruenatureoflanguageanditsunderlyingsystem.Tomakesenseofthedata,a

linguistusuallyhasconceivedsomehypothesesaboutthelanguagestructure,tobecheckedagainsttheobservedor

observablefacts.Inordertomakehisanalysisscientific,alinguistisusuallyguidedbyfourprinciples:exhaustiveness,

consistency,andobjectivity.Exhaustivenessmeansheshouldgatherallthematerialsrelevanttothestudyandgivethem

anadequateexplanation,inspiteofthecomplicatedness.Heistoleavenolinguistic“stone”unturned.Consistency

meansthereshouldbenocontradictionbetweendifferentpartsofthetotalstatement.Economymeansalinguistshould

pursuebrevityintheanalysiswhenitispossible.Objectivityimpliesthatsincesomepeoplemaybesubjectiveinthe

study,alinguistshouldbe(orsoundatleast)objective,matter-of-face,faithfultoreality,sothathisworkconstitutespart

ofthelinguisticsresearch.

20.Whatarethemajorbranchesoflinguistics?

Thestudyoflanguageasawholeisoftencalledgenerallinguistics.Butalinguistsometimesisabletodealwithonly

oneaspectoflanguageatatime,thustheariseofvariousbranches:phonetics,phonology,morphology,syntax,

semantics,pragmatics,sociolinguistics,appliedlinguistics,psycholinguisticsetc.

21.Whataresynchronicanddiachronicstudies?

Thedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointoftime(asifitstoppeddeveloping)isasynchronystudy(synchrony).The

descriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtimeisadiachronicstudy(diachronic).Anessayentitled“OntheUseof

THE"，forexample,maybesynchronic,iftheauthordoesnotrecallthepastofTHE,anditmayalsobediachronicifhe

claimstocoveralargerangeorperiodoftimewhereinTHEhasundergonetremendousalteration.

22.Whatisspeechandwhatiswriting?

Nooneneedstherepetitionofthegeneralprincipleoflinguisticanalysis,namely,theprimacyofspeechoverwriting.

Speechisprimary,becauseitexistedlonglongbeforewritingsystemscameintobeing.Geneticallychildrenlearnto

speakbeforelearningtowrite.Secondly,writtenformsjustrepresentinthiswayorthatthespeechsounds:individual

sounds,asinEnglishandFrenchasinJapanese.Incontrasttospeech,spokenformoflanguage,writingaswrittencodes,

giveslanguagenewscopeandusethatspeechdoesnothave.Firstly,messagescanbecarriedthroughspacesothat

peoplecanwritetoeachother.Secondly,messagescanbecarriedthroughtimethereby,sothatpeopleofourtimecanbe

carriedthroughtimethereby,sothatpeopleofourtimecanreadBeowulf,SamuelJohnson,andEdgarA.Poe.Thirdly,

oralmessagesarereadilysubjecttodistortion,eitherintentionalorunintentional,whilewrittenmessagesallowand

encouragerepeatedunalterablereading.Mostmodernlinguisticanalysisisfocusedonspeech,differentfrom

grammariansofthelastcenturyandtheretofore.

23.Whatarethedifferencesbetweenthedescriptiveandtheprescriptiveapproaches?

Alinguisticstudyis“descriptive“ifitonlydescribesandanalysesthefactsoflanguage,anduprescriptiveifittries

tolaydownrulesfor“correct“l(fā)anguagebehavior.Linguisticstudiesbeforethiscenturywerelargelyprescriptive

becausemanyearlygrammarswerelargelyprescriptivebecausemanyearlygrammarswerebasedon"high”(literary

orreligious)writtenrecords.Modernlinguisticsismostlydescriptive,however.It(thelatter)believesthatwhatever

occursinnaturalspeech(hesitation,incompleteutterance,misunderstanding,etc.)shouldbedescribedintheanalysis,

andnotbemarkedasincorrect,abnormal,corrupt,orlousy.These,withchangesinvocabularyandstructures,needtobe

explainedalso.

24.Whatisthedifferencebetweenlangueandparole?

F.deSaussurerefers“l(fā)angue”totheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechcommunityand

refers“parole”totheactualoractualizedlanguage,ortherealizationoflangue.Langueisabstract,parolespecificto

thespeakingsituation;languenotactuallyspokenbyanindividual,parolealwaysanaturallyoccurringevent;langue

relativelystableandsystematic,paroleisamassofconfusedfacts,thusnotsuitableforsystematicinvestigation.Whata

linguistoughttodo,accordingtoSaussure,istoabstractlanguefrominstancesofparole,i.e.todiscovertheregularities

governingallinstancesofparoleandmakethanthesubjectoflinguistics.Thelangue-paroledistinctionisofgreat

importance,whichcastsgreatinfluenceonlaterlinguists.

25.Whatisthedifferencebetweencompetenceandperformance?

AccordingtoN.Chomsky,“competence“istheideallanguageuser,sknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage,and

“performance“istheactualrealizationofthisknowledgeinutterances.Theformerenablesaspeakertoproduceand

understandanindefinitenumberofsentencesandtorecognizegrammaticalmistakesandambiguities.Aspeaker*s

competenceisstablewhilehisperformanceisofteninfluencedbypsychologicalandsocialfactors.Soaspeaker's

performancedoesnotalwaysmatchorequalhissupposedcompetence.Chomskybelievesthatlinguistsoughttostudy

competence,ratherthanperformance.Inotherwords,theyshoulddiscoverwhatanidealspeakerknowsofhisnative

language.Chomsky'scompetence-performancedistinctionisnotexactlythesameas,thoughsimilarto,F.deSaussure'

slangue-paroledistinction.Langueisasocialproduct,andasetofconventionsforacommunity,whilecompetenceis

deemedasapropertyofthemindofeachindividual.Sussurelooksatlanguagemorefromasociologicalor

sociolinguisticpointofviewthanN.Chomskysincethelatterdealswithhisissuespsychologicallyor

psycholinguistically.

26.Whatislinguisticpotential?Whatisactuallinguisticbehaviour?

Thesetwoterms,orthepotential-behaviordistinction,weremadebyM.A.K.Hallidayinthe1960s,fromafunctional

pointofview.Thereisawiderangeofthingsaspeakercandoinhisculture,andsimilarlytherearemanythingshecan

say,forexample,tomanypeople,onmanytopics.Whatheactuallysays(i.e.hisaactuallinguisticbehaviorw)ona

certainoccasiontoacertainpersoniswhathehaschosenfrommanypossibleinjusticeitems,eachofwhichhecould

havesaid(linguisticpotential).

27.Inwhatwaydolanguage,competenceandlinguisticpotentialagree?Inwhatwaydotheydiffer?Andtheir

counterparts?

Langue,competenceandlinguisticpotentialhavesomesimilarfeatures,buttheyareinnatelydifferent.Langueisa

socialproduct,andasetofspeakingconventions;competenceisapropertyorattributeofeachidealspeakerTsmind;

linguisticpotentialisallthelinguisticcorpusorrepertoireavailablefromwhichthespeakerchoosesitemsfortheactual

utterancesituation.Inotherwords,langueisinvisiblebutreliableabstractsystem.Competencemeans“knowing”,and

linguisticpotentialasetofpossibilitiesfor“doing"orperformingactionsv.Theyaresimilarinthattheyallreferto

theconstantunderlyingtheutterancesthatconstitutewhatSaussure,ChomskyandHallidayrespectivelycalledparole,

performanceandactuallinguisticbehavior.Parole,performanceandactuallinguisticbehaviorenjoymoresimilarities

thandifferences.

28.Whatisphonetics?

“Phonetics“isthesciencewhichstudiesthecharacteristicsofhumansound-making,especiallythosesoundsusedin

speech,andprovidesmethodsfortheirdescription,classificationandtranscription,speechsoundsmaybestudiedin

differentways,thusbythreedifferentbranchesofphonetics.(1)Articulatoryphonetics;thebranchofphoneticsthat

examinesthewayinwhichaspeechsoundisproducedtodiscoverwhichvocalorgansareinvolvedandhowthey

coordinateintheprocess.(2)Auditoryphonetics,thebranchofphoneticresearchfromthehearer?spointofview,

lookingintotheimpressionwhichaspeechsoundmakesonthehearerasmediatedbytheear,theauditorynerveandthe

brain.(3)Acousticphonetics:thestudyofthephysicalpropertiesofspeechsounds,astransmittedbetweenmouthand

ear.Mostphoneticians,however,areinterestedinarticulatoryphonetics.

29.Howarethevocalorgansformed?

Thevocalorgansorspeechorgans,areorgansofthehumanbodywhosesecondaryuseisintheproductionofspeech

sounds.Thevocalorganscanbeconsideredasconsistingofthreeparts;theinitiatoroftheair-stream,theproducerof

voiceandtheresonatingcavities.

30.Whatisplaceofarticulation?

Itreferstotheplaceinthemouthwhere,forexample,theobstructionoccurs,resultingintheutteranceofaconsonant.

Whateversoundispronounced,atleastsomevocalorganswillgetinvolved,e.g.lips,hardpalateetc.,soaconsonant

maybeoneofthefollowing(1)bilabial:Ip,b,mJ;(2)labiodental:[f,v];(3)dental:[,];(4)alveolar:[t,d,1,n,s,z];

(5)retroflex;(6)palato-alveolar:[];(7)palatal:。];(8)velar[k,g];(9)uvular;(10)glottal:[h].Somesoundsinvolvethe

simultaneoususeoftwoplacesofarticulation.Forexample,theEnglish[w]hasbothanapproximationofthetwolips

andthattwolipsandthatofthetongueandthesoftpalate,andmaybetermedulabial-velarv.

31.Whatisthemannerofarticulation?

Theumannerofarticulationliterallymeansthewayasoundisarticulated.Atagivenplaceofarticulation,

theairstreammaybeobstructedinvariousways,resultinginvariousmannersofarticulation,arethefollowing:

(1)plosive:[p,b,t,d,k,g];(2)nasal:[m,nJ;(3)trill;(4)taporflap;(5)lateral:[1];(6)fricative:[f,v,s,z];

(7)approximant:[w,j];(8)affricate:[].

32.WhatisIPA?Whendiditcomeintobeing?

TheIPA,abbreviationofuInternationalPhoneticAlphabet”,isacompromisesystemmakinguseofsymbols

ofallsources,includingdiacriticsindicatinglength,stressandintonation,indicatingphoneticvariation.Eversin

ceitwasdevelopedin1888,IPAhasundergoneanumberofrevisions.

33.Whatisnarrowtranscriptionandwhatisbroadtranscription?

Inhandbookofphonetics,HenrySweetmadeadistinctionbetween“narrow"and"broad“transcriptions,w

hichhecalleduNarrowRomic”.Theformerwasmeanttosymbolizeallthepossiblespeechsounds,includin

geventhemostminuteshadesofpronunciationwhileBroadRomicortranscriptionwasintendedtoindicateo

nlythosesoundscapableofdistinguishingonewordfromanotherinagivenlanguage.

34.Whatisphonology?Whatisdifferencebetweenphoneticsandphonology?

“Phonology“isthestudyofsoundsystems-theinventionofdistinctivespeechsoundsthatoccurinalangua

geandthepatternswhereintheyfall.Minimalpair,phonemes,allophones,freevariation,complementarydistrib

ution,etc.,arealltobeinvestigatedbyaphonologist.Phoneticsisthebranchoflinguisticsstudyingthechara

cteristicsofspeechsoundsandprovidesmethodsfortheirdescription,classificationandtranscription.Aphonet

istismainlyinterestedinthephysicalpropertiesofthespeechsounds,whereasaphonologiststudieswhathe

believesaremeaningfulsoundsrelatedwiththeirsemanticfeatures,morphologicalfeatures,andthewaytheya

reconceivedandprintedinthedepthofthemindphonologicalknowledgepermitsaspeakertoproducesound

swhichfrommeaningfulutterances,torecognizeaforeign“accent”,tomakeupnewwords,toaddtheapp

ropriatephoneticsegmentstofrompluralsandpasttenses,toknowwhatisandwhatisnotasoundinone"s

language.

35.Whatisaphone?Whatisaphoneme?Whatisanallophone?

A"phone“isaphoneticunitorsegment.Thespeechsoundswehearandproduceduringlinguisticcommun

icationareallphones.Whenwehearthefollowingwordspronounced:[pit],[tip],[spit],etc.,thesimilarphon

eswehaveheardareforonething,andthreedifferent,readilymakingpossibletheanarrowtranscriptionor

diacritics.Phonesmayandmaynotdistinguishmeaning.A"phoneme“isaphonologicalunit;Itisaunit

thatisofdistinctivevalue.Asanabstractunit,aphonemeisnotanyparticularsound,butratheritisreprese

ntedorrealizedbyacertainphoneinacertainphoneticcontext.Forexample,thephonemeisrepresenteddiff

erentlyin[pit],[tip]and[spit].Thephonesrepresentingaphonemearecalledits“allophones”,i.e.,thediffe

rent(i.e.?phones)butdonotmakeonewordsophoneticallydifferentastocreateanewwordoranewmea

ningthereof.Sothedifferent

sintheabovewordsaretheallophonesofthesamephoneme

.Howaphonemeisrepresentedbyaphone,orwhichallophoneistobeused,isdeterminedbythephonetic

contextinwhichitoccurs.Butthechoiceofanallophoneisnotrandom.Inmostcasesitisrule-governed;

theserulesaretobefoundoutbyaphonologist.

36.Whatareminimalpairs?

Whentwodifferentphoneticformsareidenticalineverywayexceptforonesoundsegmentwhichoccursint

hesameplaceinthestring,thetwoforms(i.e.,word)aresupposedtoformauminimalpair”,e.g.,“piH”

and“biH”，“pill”and“tiH”,"till”and"dill”，"tin”and"kin”,etc.Allthesewordstogether

constituteaminimalset.Theyareidenticalinformexceptfortheinitialconsonants.Therearemanyminimal

pairsinEnglish,whichmakesitrelativelyeasytoknowwhatEnglishphonemesare.Itisofgreatimportanc

etofindtheminimalpairswhenaphonologistisdealingwiththesoundsystemofanunknownlanguage.

37.Whatisfreevariation?

Iftwosoundsoccurringinthesameenvironmentdonotcontrast;namely,ifthesubstitutionofonefortheot

herdoesnotgenerateanewwordformbutmerelyadifferentpronunciationofthesameword,thetwosound

sthenaresaidtobein“freevariationn.Theplosives,forexample,maynotbeexplodedwhentheyoccur

beforeanotherplosiveoranasal(e.g.,act,apt,goodmorning).Theminutedistinctionsmay,ifnecessary,be

transcribedindiacritics.Theseunexplodedandexplodedplosivesareinfreevariation.Soundsinfreevariatio

nshouldbeassignedtothesamephoneme.

38.Whatiscomplementarydistribution?

Whentwosoundsneveroccurinthesameenvironment,theyareinucomplementarydistribution.Forexamp

le,theaspiratedEnglishplosivesneveroccurafter[s],andtheunsaturatedonesneveroccurinitially.Soundsi

ncomplementarydistributionmaybeassignedtothesamephoneme.Theallophonesof[1],forexample,areal

soincomplementarydistribution.Theclear[1]occursonlybeforeavowel,thevoicelessequivalentof[1]occu

rsonlyafteravoicelessconsonant,suchasinthewords“please“，“butler“，“clear"，etc.,andthedark[1]

occur