2017年伊犁师范学院语言学考研复试核心题库一、Explain-the-fllowing-terms1 Componential analysis【答案】 It refers to a semantic approach which defines the meaning of a lexical element in terms of semantic components , or semantic features. For example , the meaning of the word boy may be analyzed into three components: HUMAN, YOUNG and MALE. 2 Inflection【答案】 Inflection is the manifestation of grammatical relationship through the addition of inflectional affixes , such as number , person , finiteness , aspect and case , which do not change the grammatical class of the stems to which they are attached. For example, the past form of the verb work is realized by the addition of the inflectional suffix: ?-ed?； the plural form of the noun child is realized by the inflectional suffix: ?-ren?. 3 Foregrounding【答案】 This term is meant for what is unusual, attractive, unconventional, salient. In literature, foregrounding is often achieved through unconventional expressions which attract the readers9 attention. The main manifestations of foregrounding are deviation and parallelism. 4 Polysemy【答案】 Polysemy means a single word having several or many meanings. According to Crystal: Polysemy is a term used in semantic analysis to refer to a lexical item which has a range of different meanings. Polysemic words are signs of an advanced culture. Polysemy is also an essential feature of a language?s economy and efficiency. 5 Gradable antonym【答案】 Gradable antonym. Gradable antonyms are antonyms that are gradable because there are often intermediate forms between the two members of a pair. For example, cold and warm constitute a pair of gradable antonyms. 6 Applied linguistics【答案】 It is a branch of linguistics which studies the application of linguistics in reality. For example , there are studies on multilingualism, language acquisition, first and second language teaching and learning. 7 CategorizationCategorization is the process of classifying our experiences into different categories based 【答案】on commonalities and differences. There are three levels in categories: the basic level，the superordinate level ，and the subordinate level. 8 Register【答案】 It is a speech variety used by a particular group of people , usually sharing the same occupation （e.g. doctors, lawyers） or the same interests. A particular register often distinguishes itself from others by having a number of distinctive words, by using words or phrases in a particular way, and sometimes by special grammatical constructions （e.g. legal language）. 二、Essay-question9 Semantic change plays a very important role in widening the vocabulary of a language.【答案】 Semantic change plays a very important role in widening the vocabulary of a language. Since language is symbolic, each word serves as a symbol in relation to a specific meaning. In this sense, we need infinite numbers of words or symbols to code the physical entities and our experiential concepts. But this is impossible for communication. Therefore, users give a new concept to an old form, thus the meaning of a form is multiplied. There are three kinds of semantic changes , namely , broadening , narrowing , and meaning shift. Class shift and folk etymology also contribute to change in meaning.Semantic broadening refers to the process in which the meaning of a word becomes more general or inclusive than its historically earlier denotation. For example, the word holiday used to mean “holy day” in religious English. It means “a day for rest” today regardless of its religious nature , and hence its meaning is widened.Semantic narrowing is a process in which the meaning of a word becomes less general or inclusive than its historically earlier meaning. For example, the Old English word “hund” （“hound”）was once used for any breed of dog; whereas in Modem English its meaning has been narrowed to a particular kind of dog.Semantic shift is a process of semantic change in which a word loses its former meaning and acquires a new , sometimes related ，meaning. For example , the word “silly” meant “happy” in Old English , and “naive” in Middle English，but “foolish” in Modem English. 10State about ONE of the two topics given below （ minimally 200 words ）（1）In English, the plurality of countable nouns can be represented in several forms, or suffixes. The following are examples of some of such forms. Are these suffixes of plurality the allomorphs of one and the same morpheme , or are they different morphemes? State the reasons for your answer to thequestion. （2）State about any speech production model that you are familiar with. Use an utterance example to illustrate your understanding of the chosen model and explain how it accounts for the exchange error of 44This is the happiest life of my day”.【答案】（1） These suffixes of plurality are allomorphs of one and the same morpheme.Some morphemes have a single form in all contexts, su