I. Choose the best answer

1. Which of the following is not a design feature of human language?

A. Arbitrariness B. Displacement C. Duality D. Meaningfulness

2. The details of any language system is passed on from one generation to the next through ____ , rather than by instinct.

A. learning B. teaching C. books D. both A and B

3. Language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker. This feature is called_________.

A. displacement B. duality C. flexibility     D. cultural transmission

II. Decide whether the following statements are true or false.

1. Duality is one of the characteristics of human language. It refers to the fact that language has two levels of structures: the system of sounds and the system of meanings.

2. Arbitrariness means you can use language in any way you like.

3. Language is arbitrary by nature but it is not completely arbitrary.

I.

1) Which of the following is not a design feature of human language? The answer is D.

2) The answer is D. Language is passed on from one generation to the next through teaching and learning.

3) A. Displacement refers to that language can be used to refer to what is present, what is absent, what happens at present, what happened in the past, and what will happen in the future or what happens in a far-away place.

II.

1) T.

2) F. Arbitrariness means there’s no logical or natural relation between the speech sounds and the meanings they represent.

3) T.