现代语言学讲义

ADetailedreviewforModernLinguistics

(此篇术语适合考前背诵，简答题要做到熟悉得滚瓜烂熟哦，用于应付术语解释和简答题)

Chapter1:Introduction

1.Definethefollowingterms:

1).Linguistics:Itisgenerallydefinedasthescientificstudyoflanguage.

2).Generallinguistics:Thestudyoflanguageasawholeiscalledgenerallinguistics.

3).Appliedlinguistics:Inanarrowsense,appliedlinguisticsreferstotheapplicationoflinguisticprinciples

andtheoriestolanguageteachingandlearning,especiallytheteachingofforeignandsecondlanguages.In

abroadsense,itreferstotheapplicationoflinguisticfindingstothesolutionofpracticalproblemssuchas

therecoveryofspeechability.

4).Synchronicstudy:Thestudyofalanguageatsomepointintime.e.g.AstudyofthefeaturesoftheEnglish

usedinShakespeare^timeisasynchronicstudy.

5).Diachronicstudy:Thestudyofalanguageasitchangesthroughtime.Adiachronicstudyoflanguageisa

historicalstudy,whichstudiesthehistoricaldevelopmentoflanguageoveraperiodoftime.e.g.astudyof

thechangesEnglishhasundergonesinceShakespeare'stimeisadiachronicstudy.

6).Languagecompetence:Theidealuser'sknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage.A

transformational-generativegrammar(转化生成语法)isamodeloflanguagecompetence.

7).Languageperformance:performanceistheactualrealizationoftheideallanguageuser'sknowledgeof

therulesinlinguisticcommunication.

8).Langue:Languereferstotheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechcommunity;

Langueisthesetofconventionsandruleswhichlanguageusersallhavetofollow;Langueisrelatively

stable,itdoesnotchangefrequently.

9).Parole:Parolereferstotherealizationoflangueinactualuse;paroleistheconcreteuseoftheconventions

andtheapplicationoftherules;parolevariesfrompersontoperson,andfromsituationtosituation.

10).Language:Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.

11).Arbitrariness:Itisoneofthedesignfeaturesoflanguage.Itmeansthatthereisnologicalconnection

betweenmeaningsandsounds.Agoodexampleisthefactthatdifferentsoundsareusedtorefertothe

sameobjectindifferentlanguages.

12).Productivity:Languageisproductiveorcreativeinthatitmakespossibletheconstructionand

interpretationofnewsignalsbyitsusers.

13).Duality:Languageisasystem,whichconsistsoftwosetsofstructure,ortwolevels,oneofsoundsatthe

lowerorbasiclevel,andtheotherofmeaningsatthehigherlevel.

14).Displacement:languagecanbeusedtorefertothingswhicharepresentornotpresent,realorimagined

mattersinthepast,present,orfuture,orinfar-awayplaces.Inotherwords,languagecanbeusedtoreferto

contextsremovedfromtheimmediatesituationsofthespeaker.

15).Culturaltransmission:Whilewearebornwiththeabilitytoacquirelanguage,thedetailsofanylanguage

arenotgeneticallytransmitted,butinsteadhavetobetaughtandlearned.

16).Designfeatures:Itreferstothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethatdistinguishitfromanyanimal

systemofcommunication

2.Explainthefollowingdefinitionoflinguistics:Linguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage.

Linguisticsinvestigatesnotanyparticularlanguage,butlanguagesingeneral.

Linguisticstudyisscientificbecauseitisbasedonthesystematicinvestigationofauthentic(可靠的，真实的)

languagedata.Noseriouslinguisticconclusionisreacheduntilafterthelinguisthasdonethefollowingthreethings:

observingthewaylanguageisactuallyused,formulatingsomehypotheses,andtestingthesehypothesesagainst

linguisticfactstoprovetheirvalidity.

3.Whatarethebranchesoflinguistics?Whatdoeseachofthemstudy?(语言学的主要分支是什么。每个分支的研

究对象是什么？)

Linguisticsmainlyinvolvesthefollowingbranches:

1)Generallinguistics,whichisthestudyoflanguageasawholeandwhichdealswiththebasicconcepts,

theories,descriptions,modelsandmethodsapplicableinanylinguisticstudy

2)Phonetics,whichstudiesthesoundsthatareusedinlinguisticcommunication

3)Phonology,whichstudieshowsoundsareputtogetherandusedtoconveymeaningincommunication

4)Morphology,whichstudiesthewayinwhichmorphemesarearrangedtoformwords

5)Syntax,whichstudieshowmorphemesandwordsarecombinedtoformsentences

6)Semantics,whichisthestudyofmeaninginlanguage.

7)Pragmatics,whichisthestudyofmeaningnotinisolation,butinthecontextofuse

8)Sociolinguistics,whichisthestudyoflanguagewithreferencetosociety

9)Psycholinguistics,whichisthestudyoflanguagewithreferencetotheworkingsofmind.

10)Appliedlinguistics,whichisconcernedabouttheapplicationoflinguisticfindingsinlinguisticstudies;ina

narrowsense,appliedlinguisticsreferstotheapplicationoflinguisticprinciplesandtheoriestolanguage

teaching,especiallytheteachingofforeignandsecondlanguages.

11)Otherrelatedbranchesareanthropologicallinguistics(人类语言学)，neurologicallinguistics(神经语言学),

mathematicallinguistics(数学语言学)，andcomputationallinguistics(计算机语言学).

4.Whatmakesmodernlinguisticsdifferentfromtraditionalgrammar?(现代语言学与传统语法有什么区别？)

Traditionalgrammarisprescriptive(规定性);itisbasedon"highn(religious,literary)writtenlanguage.Itsets

modelsforlanguageuserstofollow.ButModernlinguisticsisdescriptive(描述性);itsinvestigationsarebasedon

authenticandmainlyspokenlanguagedata.Itissupposedtobescientificandobjectiveandthetaskoflinguistsis

supposedtodescribethelanguagepeopleactuallyuse,whetheritis"correct”ornot.

5.Ismodernlinguisticsmainlysynchronic(共时性)ordiachronic(历时性)?Why?

(Thedescriptionoflanguageatsomepointintimeisasynchronicstudy;thedescriptionofalanguageasit

changesthroughtimeisadiachronicstudy.)

Modernlinguisticsismainlysynchronic,focusingonthepresent-daylanguage.Unlessthevariousstatesofa

languagearesuccessfullystudied,itwillnotbepossibletodescribelanguagefromadiachronicpointofview.

6.Whichenjoyspriorityinmodernlinguistics,speechorwriting?Why?

Modernlinguisticsgivesprioritytothespokenlanguageforthefollowingreasons:

First,speechprecedeswriting.Thewritingsystemisalwaysalaterinventionusedtorecordthespeech.There

arestillsomelanguagesthatonlyhavethespokenform.

Then,alargeramountofcommunicationiscarriedoutinspeechthaninwriting.

Third,speechistheforminwhichinfantsacquiretheirnativelanguage.

7.Saussure是如何区分语言和言语的？

(ThedistinctionbetweenlangueandparolewasmadebythefamousSwisslinguistFerdinanddeSaussure

earlythiscentury.LangueandparoleareFrenchwords.)

Languereferstotheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechcommunity,andparole

referstotherealizationoflangueinactualuse.Langueisthesetofconventionsandruleswhichlanguageusersall

havetofollowwhileparoleistheconcreteuseoftheconventionsandtheapplicationoftherules.Langueisabstract;

itisnotthelanguagepeopleactuallyuse,butparoleisconcrete;itreferstothenaturallyoccurringlanguageevents.

Langueisrelativelystable,itdoesnotchangefrequently;whileparolevariesfrompersontoperson,andfrom

situationtosituation.

8.Chomsky的语言能力和语言使用各指什么？

(AmericanlinguistN.Chomskyinthelate1950*8proposedthedistinctionbetweencompetenceand

performance.)

Chomskydefinescompetenceastheidealuser'sknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage.Thisinternalized

setofrulesenablesthelanguageusertoproduceandunderstandaninfinitelylargenumberofsentencesand

recognizesentencesthatareungrammaticalandambiguous.AccordingtoChomsky,performanceistheactual

realizationofthisknowledgeinlinguisticcommunication.Althoughthespeaker'sknowledgeofhismothertongueis

perfect,hisperformancesmayhavemistakesbecauseofsocialandpsychologicalfactorssuchasstress,

embarrassment,etc...Chomskybelievesthatwhatlinguistsshouldstudyisthecompetence,whichissystematic,

nottheperformance,whichistoohaphazard（«禺然的）.

9.HowisSaussure'sdistinctionbetweenlangueandparolesimilartoChomsky'sdistinctionbetweencompetence

andperformance?Andwhatistheirdifference?

BothSaussureandChomskymakethedistinctionbetweentheabstractlanguagesystemandtheactualuse

oflanguage.Theirpurposeistosingleoutoneaspectoflanguageforseriousstudy.

TheydifferinthatSaussuretakesasociologicalviewoflanguageandhisnotionoflangueisamatterofsocial

conventions,andChomskylooksatlanguagefromapsychologicalpointofviewandtohimcompetenceisa

propertyofthemindofeachindividual.

10.Whatcharacteristicsoflanguagedoyouthinkshouldbeincludedinagood,comprehensivedefinitionof

language?

Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.

Firstofall,languageisasystem,i.e.elementsoflanguagearecombinedaccordingtorules.

Second,languageisarbitraryinthesensethatthereisnointrinsicconnectionbetweenthewordandthething

itrefersto.

Third,languageisvocalbecausetheprimarymediumissoundforalllanguages.

Theterm"human"ismeanttospecifythatlanguageishuman-specific.

11.WhatfeaturesofhumanlanguagehavebeenspecifiedbyCharlesHocketttoshowthatitisessentiallydifferent

fromanyanimalcommunicationsystem?人类语言的甄别性特征是什么？

1.Arbitrariness（任意，性）：（课本答案：asignofsophisticationonlyhumansarecapableof）Itmeansthatthere

isnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds.Althoughlanguageisarbitrarybynature,itisnot

entirelyarbitrary.Non-arbitrarywordsmakeuponlyasmallpercentageofthetotalnumber.Thearbitrarynature

oflanguageisasignofsophisticationanditmakesitpossibleforlanguagetohaveanunlimitedsourceof

expressions.

2.Productivity（创造性）:（课本答案：creativity:animalsarequitelimitedinthemessagestheyareableto

send）Languageisproductiveorcreativeinthatitmakespossibletheconstructionandinterpretationofan

infinitelylargenumberofsentences,includingthosetheyhaveneversaidorheardbefore.

3.DuaHty（二重性）：（课本答案：afeaturetotallylackinginanyanimalcommunication）Itmeansthatlanguage

isasystem,whichconsistsoftwosetsofstructure,ortwolevels,oneofsoundsatthelowerlevelandtheother

ofmeaningsatthehigherlevel.Atthelowerorthebasiclevel,thereisthestructureofindividualand

meaninglesssounds,whichcanbegroupedintomeaningfulunitsatthehigherlevel.Thisdualityofstructureor

doublearticulationoflanguageenablesitsuserstotalkaboutanythingwithintheirknowledge.

4.Displacement（移位性）:（课本答案:noanimalcan“talk”aboutthingsremovedfromtheimmediate

situation）Languagecanbeusedtorefertothingswhicharepresentornotpresent,realorimaginedmattersin

thepast,present,orfuture,orfar-awayplaces.Inotherwords,languagecanbeusedtorefertocontexts

removedfromtheimmediatesituationsofthespeaker.

5.Culturaltransmission（文化传递性）：（课本答案detailsofhumanlanguagesystemaretaughtandlearned

whileanimalsarebornwiththecapacitytosendoutcertainsignalsasameansoflimitedcommunication）While

wearebornwiththeabilitytoacquirelanguage,thedetailsofanylanguagearenotgeneticallytransmitted,but

insteadhavetobetaughtandlearned.

12.Doyouthinkhumanlanguageisentirelyarbitrary?Why?

Languageisarbitraryinnature,itisnotentirelyarbitrary,becausetherearealimitednumberofwordswhose

connectionsbetweenformsandmeaningscanbelogicallyexplainedtoacertainextent,forexample,the

onomatopoeia,wordswhicharecoinedonthebasisofimitationofsoundsbysoundssuchasbang,crash,etc..

Takecompoundsforanotherexample.Thetwoelements“photo”and“copy”in“photocopy"arenon-motivated,but

thecompoundisnotarbitrary.

Ch叩ter2:Phonology

1.Definetheterms:

1).phonetics:Phoneticsisdefinedasthestudyofthephonicmediumoflanguage;itisconcernedwithallthe

soundsthatoccurintheworld,slanguages

2).auditoryphonetics:Itstudiesthespeechsoundsfromthehearer'spointofview.Itstudieshowthesounds

areperceivedbythehearer.

3).acousticphonetics:Itstudiesthespeechsoundsbylookingatthesoundwaves.Itstudiesthephysical

meansbywhichspeechsoundsaretransmittedthroughtheairfromonepersontoanother.

4).internationalphoneticalphabet[IPA]:Itisastandardizedandinternationallyacceptedsystemofphonetic

transcription.

5).Broadtranscription:thetranscriptionwithletter-symbolsonly,i.e.oneletter-symbolforonesound.Thisis

thetranscriptionnormallyusedindictionariesandteachingtextbooks.

6).Narrowtranscription:isthetranscriptionwithletter-symbolstogetherwiththediacritics.Thisisthe

transcriptionusedbythephoneticiansintheirstudyofspeechsounds.

7).diacritics:isasetofsymbolswhichcanbeaddedtotheletter-symbolstomakefinerdistinctionsthanthe

lettersalonemakepossible.

8).Voiceless(清音)：whenthevocalcordsaredrawnwideapart,lettingairgothroughwithoutcausingvibration,

thesoundsproducedinsuchaconditionarecalledvoicelesssounds.

9).Voicing(辅音):Soundsproducedwhilethevocalcordsarevibratingarecalledvoicedsounds.

10).Vowel:thesoundsinproductionofwhichnoarticulatorscomeveryclosetogetherandtheairstreampasses

throughthevocaltractwithoutobstructionarecalledvowels.

11).Consonants:thesoundsintheproductionofwhichthereisanobstructionoftheairstreamatsomepointof

thevocaltractarecalledconsonants.

12).phonology:Phonologystudiesthesystemofsoundsofaparticularlanguage;itaimstodiscoverhowspeech

soundsinalanguageformpatternsandhowthesesoundsareusedtoconveymeaninginlinguistic

communication.

13).phone:Phonescanbesimplydefinedasthespeechsoundsweusewhenspeakingalanguage.Aphoneisa

phoneticunitorsegment.Itdoesnotnecessarilydistinguishmeaning.

14).phoneme:acollectionofabstractphoneticfeatures,itisabasicunitinphonology.Itisrepresentedorrealized

asacertainphonebyacertainphoneticcontext.

15).allophone:Thedifferentphoneswhichcanrepresentaphonemeindifferentphoneticenvironmentsare

calledtheallophonesofthatphoneme.Forexample[I]and[I]

16).phonemiccontrast:Phonemiccontrastreferstotherelationbetweentwophonemes.Iftwophonemescan

occurinthesameenvironmentanddistinguishmeaning,theyareinphonemiccontrast.

17).minimalpair:Whentwodifferentformsareidenticalineverywayexceptforonesoundsegmentwhichoccurs

inthesameplaceinthestrings,thetwowordsaresaidtoformaminimalpair.Forexample:binandpin.

18).Suprasegmentalfeatures:thephonemicfeaturesthatoccurabovethelevelofthesegmentsarecalled

suprasegmentalfeatures.Themainsuprasegmentalfeaturesincludestress,toneandintonation.

19).tone:Tonesarepitchvariations,whicharecausedbythedifferingratesofvibrationofthevocalcords.Pitch

variationcandistinguishmeaningjustlikephonemes.Themeaning-distinctivefunctionothetoneisespecially

importantintonelanguages,forexample,inChinese.

20).intonation:Whenpitch,stressandsoundlengtharetiedtothesentenceratherthanthewordinisolation,

theyarecollectivelyknownasintonation.Forexample,Englishhasfourbasictypesofintonation:thefalling

tone,therisingtone,thefall-risetoneandtherise-falltone.

2.Whatarethetwomajormediaofcommunication?Ofthetwo,whichoneisprimaryandwhy?语言交际的两大媒

介是什么？哪一个是基本的交际媒介？为什么？

Speechandwritingarethemajormediaofcommunication.Speechisconsideredprimaryoverwriting.The

reasonsare:speechispriortowritinginlanguageevolution,speechplaysagreaterroleindailycommunications,

andspeechisthewayinwhichpeopleacquiretheirnativelanguage.

3.Whatarethethreebranchesofphonetics?Howdotheycontributetothestudyofspeechsounds?语音学的三

个分支是什么。它们是如何研究语言学的？

1)Articulatoryphoneticsdescribesthewayourspeechorgansworktoproducethespeechsoundsandhow

theydiffer.

2）Auditoryphoneticsstudiesthephysicalpropertiesofthespeechsounds,andreachesimportantconclusion

thatphoneticidentityisonlyatheoreticalideal.

3）Acousticphoneticsstudiesthephysicalpropertiesofthespeechsounds,thewaysoundstravelfromthe

speakertothehearer;itdealswiththesoundwavesthroughtheuseofsuchmachinesasaspectrograph

（声谱仪）.

4.Wherearethearticulatoryapparatusofhumanbeingcontained?

Pharyngealcavity,oralcavityandnasalcavity.

5.Whatisvoicingandhowisitcaused?什么叫浊音化？它是如何形成的？

Voicingistheresultofthevibrationofthevocalcords.Whenthevocalcordsaredrawnwideapart,lettingairgo

throughwithoutcausingvibration,thesoundsproducedinsuchawayarevoiceless.Whenvocalcordsareheld

togethertautlysothattheairstreamvibratesthem,thesoundsproducedinthiswayarevoiced.

6.Whatisthefunctionofnasalcavity?Howdoesitperformthisfunction?

Thefunctionofnasalcavityistonasalizethesoundsthatareproduced.Itdoesthisbyclosingtheairpassage

connectingtheoralandnasalcavitiessothattheairstreamcanonlygothroughthenasalcavity.

7.Describethevariouspartsintheoralcavitywhichareinvolvedintheproductionofspeechsounds?

Thevariouspatsofthetongue:thetip,thefront,theblade,andtheback;theuvula;thesoftpalate;thehard

palate;theteethridge（alveolar）;theupperandlowerteeth;thelips.

8.Howbroadtranscriptionandnarrowtranscriptiondiffer?宽式标音和严式标音有什么区别？（P22）

Thebroadtranscriptionisthetranscriptionofsoundsbyusingonelettertorepresentonesound.

Thenarrowtranscriptionisthetranscriptionwithdiacritics（变音符号）toshowdetailedarticulatoryfeaturesof

sounds.

Inbroadtranscription,thesymbol[I]inusedforthesound[I]inwordslikeleaf[li:f],feel[fi:l],build[bild],and

health[hel9].Thesound[I]inallthesewordsisdifferslightly.The[I]in[li:f],occurringbeforeavowel,iscalleda

clear[I],andnodiacriticisneededtoindicateit;the[I]in[fi:l]and[bild],occurringbeforeanotherconsonant,iscalled

dark[I],indicatedinnarrowtranscriptionas[1].Thenin[hel0],thesound[I]isfollowedbythedentalsound[0],itis

thuscalledadental[I],andtranscribedas[helQ]innarrowtranscription.

9.HowaretheEnglishconsonantsclassified?英语的辅音是如何分类的？

1）bymannerofarticulation.

a.stops（plosive爆破音）:[p],[b],[t],[d],[k],[g]

b.fricatives（磨擦音）：[f],[v],[s],[z],[G],[初[J],[^],[h]

c.affricates（破擦音）:[也告台]

d.liquids（lateral边音,流音）:[I],[r]

e.nasals（鼻音）:[m],[n],[艮]

f.glides（semivowels半元音）：[w],[j]

2）byplaceofarticulation:

a.bilabial（双唇音）：

b.labiodental（唇齿音）：

c.dental（舌齿音）：[0],[世|

d.alveolar（齿龈音）:[t],[d],[s],[z],[n],[l],[r]

e.palatal（腭音）：[J],[守],[tj],告旬,[j]

f.velar（软腭音）：伐]

g.glottal（喉音，声门单）：[h]

10.WhatcriteriaareusedtoclassifytheEnglishvowels?英语的元音是如何分类的？

1)Accordingtothepositionofthetongue,vowelsmaybedistinguishedasfrontvowelssuchas[i:][i][e][ae][a],

centralvowelssuchas卜口]]叼[刃，andbackvowelssuchas[u:][♦][心0]隹]鹤星]

2)Accordingtotheopennessofthemouth,weclassifythevowelsintofourgroups:closevowelssuchas[i:][i]

[u:][♦],semi-closevowelssuchas[e][^H],semi-openvowelssuchas[=][S且],andopenvowelssuchas[ae][a]

[)][句and鹤星].

3)Accordingtotheshapeofthelips,vowelsaredividedintoroundedvowelsandunroundedvowels.InEnglish

allthefrontandcentralvowelsareunroundedvowels,allthebackvowels,withexceptionof[^B],arerounded.

4)Accordingtothelengthofthevowels,theEnglishvowelscanalsobeclassifiedintolongvowelsandshort

vowels.Thelongvowelsinclude[i:][^B]][u:][^H],whiletherestareshortvowels.

11.Whatisthedifferencebetweenamonophthongandadiphthong?

Amonophthongisoneforwhichtheorgansofspeechremaininagivenpositionforaperiodoftime.A

diphthongisavowelsoundconsistingofadeliberateglide.Theorgansofspeechstartinginthepositionofone

vowelandimmediatelymovinginthedirectionofanothervowel,forexample:[i:],[i]aremonophthongs,and[。修],

[ITLK]arediphthongs.

12.Howdophoneticsandphonologydifferintheirfocusofstudy?Whodoyouthinkwillbemoreinterestedinthe

differencebetween[l]and[I],[p]and[ph],aphoneticianoraphonologist?Why?

Phonetics:descriptionofallspeechsoundsandtheirfinedifferences.

Phonology:descriptionofsoundsystemsofparticularlanguagesandhowsoundsfunctiontodistinguish

meaning.

Aphoneticianwouldbemoreinterestedinsuchdifferencesbecausesuchdifferenceswillnotcause

differencesinmeaning,butcanmakefinerdistinctionsofthesounds.

13.Whatisaphone?Howisitdifferentfromaphoneme?Howareallophonesrelatedtoaphoneme?

Phone:aspeechsound,aphoneticunit.

Phoneme:acollectionofabstractsoundfeatures,aphonologicalunit.

Allophones:actualrealizationofaphonemeindifferentphoneticcontexts.

14.Whatisaminimalpairandwhatisaminimalset?Whyisitimportanttoidentifytheminimalsetinalanguage?

Minimalpair:twosoundcombinationsidenticalineverywayexceptinonesoundelementthatoccursinthe

sameposition.

Minimalset:agroupofsoundcombinationswiththeabovefeature.

Byidentifyingtheminimalpairsortheminimalsetofalanguage,aphonologistcanidentifyitsphonemes.

15.Whatarephonemiccontrast,complementarydistribution,andminimalpair?什么叫音位对立？什么叫互补分

布？什么是最小对立对？(p34)

Iftwophoneticallysimilarsoundscanoccurinthesameenvironmentsandtheydistinguishmeaning,theyare

inphonemiccontrast,[p],[b]

Iftwophoneticallysimilarsoundsaretwoallophonesofthesamephonemeandtheyoccurindifferent

environments,theyaresaidtobeincomplementarydistribution,[p],[ph].

Whentwodifferentformsareidenticalineverywayexceptforonesoundsegmentwhichoccursinthesame

placeinthestrings,thetwowordsaresaidtoformaminimalpair.Forexample,killandbill.

16.Explainwithexamplesthesequentialrule,theassimilationruleandthedeletionrule.

Sequentialrule:rulegoverningthecombinationofsoundsinaparticularlanguage.

Assimilationrule:ruleassimilatingonesoundsimilartothefollowingonebycopyingoneofitsphonetic

features.

Deletionrule:rulegoverningthedeletionofasoundinacertainphoneticcontextalthoughitisrepresentedin

spelling.

17.Whataresupresegmentalfeatures?HowdothemajorsuprasegmentalfeaturesofEnglishfunctioninconveying

meaning?在么是超音位特征？它是如何影响语义的？(p40)

Suprasegmentalfeaturesarephonologicalfeaturesabovethesoundsegmentlevel.

ThemajorsuprasegmentalfeaturesinEnglisharewordstress,sentencestressandintonation.

1)ThelocationofstressinEnglishdistinguishesmeaning,suchas'importandim'port.Thesimilaralternation

ofstressalsooccursbetweenacompoundnounandaphraseconsistingofthesameelements.Aphonological

featureoftheEnglishcompoundsisthatthestressofthewordalwaysfallsonthefirstelementandthesecond

elementreceivessecondarystress,forexample:'blackbirdisaparticularkindofbird,whichisnotnecessarilyblack,

butablack'birdisabirdthatisblack.

2)Sentencestressreferstotherelativeforcewhichisgiventothewordsinasentence.Themoreimportant

wordssuchasnouns,mainverbs,adjectives,adverbs,anddemonstrativepronouns,arepronouncedwithgreater

forceandmademoreprominent.Andtheothercategoriesofwords(articles,personalpronouns,auxiliaryverbs,

prepositions,andconjunctions)areusuallynotstressed.Buttogivespecialemphasistoacertainnotion,awordin

sentencethatisusuallyunstressedcanbestressedtoachievedifferenteffect.Takethesentence“Heisdrivingmy

car."Forexample,toemphasizethefactthatthecarheisdrivingisnothis,oryours,butmine,thespeakercan

stressthepossessivepronounmy,whichundernormalcircumstancesisnotstressed.

3)Englishhasfourbasictypesofintonation,knownasthefourtones:Whenspokenindifferenttones,the

samesequenceofwordsmayhavedifferentmeanings.Generallyspeaking,thefallingtoneindicatesthatwhatis

saidisastraight-forward,matter-of-factstatement,therisingtoneoftenmakesaquestionofwhatissaid,andthe

fall-risetoneoftenindicatesthatthereisanimpliedmessageinwhatissaid.

18.Whatdoessentencestressmean?

Sentencestressreferstotherelativeforcewhichisgiventoth