1. Language (语言) is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.2. Linguistics(语言学)is generally defined as the scientific study of language.3. General linguistics(普通/一般语言学)The study of language as a whole is often called general linguistics.4. Phonetics(语音学) the study of sounds used in linguistic communication led to the establishment of phonetics.5. Phonology(语音体系) how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication.6. Morphology(形态学) these symbols are arranged and combined to form words has constituted the branch of study called morphology.7. Syntax(句法学) then the combination of words to form grammatically permissible sentences in languages is governed by rules. The study of these rules constitutes a major branch of linguistic studies called syntax.8. Semantics(语意学) the study of meaning is known as semantics.9. Pragmatics(语用学) when the study of meaning is conducted, not in isolation, but in the context of language use, it becomes another branch of linguistic study called pragmatics.10. Phone(音素) is a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are all phones.11. Phoneme(音位)is a phonological unit; it is a unit that is of distinctive value. It is an abstract unit. It is not any particular sound, but rather it is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context.12. Allophones(音位变体) the different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic environments are called the allophones.13. IPA(International Phonetic Alphabet国际音标) It’s a standardized and internationally accepted system of phonetic transcription. The basic principle of the IPA is using one letter selected from major European lang uages to represent one speech sound.14. Diacritics(变音符) it is a set of symbols which are added to the letter-symbols to bring out the finer distinctions.15.broad transcription(宽式标音) one is the transcription with letter-symbols only.16.narrow transcription(严式标音) the other is the transcription with letter-symbols together with the diacritics.17. open class words(开放类词)In English , open class words are nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. We can regularly add new words to these classes.18. closed class words(封闭类词) In English , closed class word are conjunctions, prepositions, articles and pronouns. New words are not usually added to them.19. Morpheme(词素) the most basic element of meaning is traditionally called morpheme.20. bound morpheme(黏着词素) morphemes which occurs only before other morphemes. They cannot be used alone.21. free morpheme(自由词素)it is the morphemes which can be used alone.22. suprasegmental features(超音段特征) the phonemic features that occur above the level of the segments are called suprasegmental features.23. Category(范畴) it refers to a group of linguistic items which fulfill the same or similar functions in a particular language such as a sentence ,a noun phrase or a verb.24. Phrases(短语) Syntactic units that are built around a certain word category are called phrases.1. Three distinct of phonetics(语音学的三个分支?)Articulatory phonetics发音语音学; auditory phonetics听觉语音学; acoustic phonetics声光语音学.2. Main features of language(语言的主要特征?)Language is a system. Language is arbitrary. Language is vocal. Language is human-specific.3. Synchronic vs. diachronic(共识语言学与历史语言学的区别?)Language exists in time and changes through time. The description of a language at some point of time in history is a synchronic study; the description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study. A diachronic study of language is a historical study; it studies the historical development of language over a period of time.4. Speech and writing (言语与文字的区别?)Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication. From the point of view of linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing. The writing system of any language is always “invented” by its users to record speech when the need arises. Then in everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed, speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongue, and writing is learned and taught later when he goes to school. Written language is only the “revised” record of speech.5. What are the branches of linguistic study?(语言学研究领域中的主要分支有哪些?)1) sociolinguistics; 2) psycholinguistics; 3)applied linguistics and so on.6. Traditional grammar and modern linguistics(传统语法与现代语言学的区别?)Firstly, linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive.Second, modern linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. Traditional grammarians, tended to emphasize, maybe over-emphasize, the importance of the written word.Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based framework.7. Prescriptive vs. descriptive (语言学中描写性与规定性的特征是什么?) Prescriptive and descriptive represent two different types of linguistic study. If a linguistic study aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, it is said to be descriptive; if the linguistic study aims to lay down rules for “correct and standard” behavior in using language, it is said to be pres criptive.8. Design features of language (语言的识别特征?)Arbitrariness随意性,productivity生产性, duality 二重性, displacement 不受时空限制的特征, cultural transmission 文化传递系统.9. Competence and performance (语言能力与语言行为的区别?)Competence is defined as the ideal user’s knowledge o f the rules of his language, and performance the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication. Chomsky looks at language from a psychological point of view and to him competence is a property of the mind of each individual.10. Organs of speech (发音器官)Pharyngeal cavity—the throat, oral cavity—the mouth, nasal cavity—the nose.11.Word-level categories(决定词范畴的三个标准)T o determine a word’s category, three criteria are usually employed, namely meaning, inflection and distribution.1. Some rules in phonology(音位学规则)sequential rules(序列规则);assimilation rule (同化规则) ;deletion rule(省略规则)。