首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Some interesting recent research by a team from MRC Applied Psychology Unit at Cambridge analysed the sound structure of a large
Some interesting recent research by a team from MRC Applied Psychology Unit at Cambridge analysed the sound structure of a large
admin
2010-01-15
38
问题
Some interesting recent research by a team from MRC Applied Psychology Unit at Cambridge analysed the sound structure of a large number of first names, and found some interesting differences between men and women. It seems the sexes do not sound the same. The claims are of course limited by the size of their sample--1,667 entries taken from a dictionary of English first names--but the claims they make can easily be checked against our intuitions, and they seem very plausible:
-- Female first names tend to be longer than males, in terms of the number of syllables they contain. Males are much more likely to have a monosyllabic first name (Bob, Jim Fred, Frank, John), and much less likely to have a name of three or more syllables (Christopher, Nicholas). By contrast, there are few monosyllabic female names in the list (Ann, Joan, May) , and many of them are trisyllabic or more ( Katherine, Elizabeth, Amanda).
-- 95% of male names have a first syllable which is strongly stressed, whereas only 75% of female names show this pattern. It is not difficult to think of female names which begin with an unstressed syllable (Patricia, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Michelle), but male names are few and far between (Jerome, Dementrius). In fact, none of the popular British male names in top-2-1ists from the past 75 years has had an unstressed initial syllable--and only three American names.
-- The stressed syllables of female names tend to make much more use of the high front vowel / I/, such as Lisa, Tina, Celia, Maxine, and the archetypal Fifi and Mimi. Male names in /I/ are far less common (Steve, Keith, Peter).
-- Female pet names tend to be longer than male. A dissyllabic pet name could be either male or female, but a monosyllabic one is much more likely to be male. Jackie could be either sex, but Jack is male. Several other pairs share this expectancy, such as Bill /Billie and Bob/Bollie.
-- Female names are much more likely to end in a vowel, as with Linda, Judy, Deborah, Barbara. If not a vowel, the last sound will very likely be a continuant, especially a nasal (Jean, Kathleen, Sharon, Ann). By contrast, plosives are much more likely to be found in male endings (Bob, David, Dick, Jack).
It is of course difficult, perhaps impossible, to explain these trends. Could the sound-symbolic associations of /I/, such as smallness and brightness, explain the bias of that vowel? Can we relate the trend towards use of an initial stressed syllable to greater masculine aggressiveness? One thing is sure: it is much more difficult to generalize safely about female names. Popular male names are used much more predictably. There are several male names which have appeared on every list of the top 20 names in recent times (e. g. John, David), but no one female name appears on all lists. People are much readier to be inventive and different with female names.
According to the passage, "Sabrina"is a clear-cut feminine name for all of the following reasons EXCEPT that ______.
选项
A、it begins with a gentle sibilant /s/
B、it has three syllables
C、the stress falls on the second syllable
D、it has a strong /I/ vowel
答案
A
解析
根据第二、三、四段可知B、C、D是女性名字的典型特征,A没有提到。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/gmnK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
A、PeopleneedenoughsuntogetvitaminD.B、Theultravioletraysfromsunarebeneficial.C、Thesuncanbringpeopleagoodmoo
Working-classfamiliesintheUnitedStatesareusuallynuclear,andmanystudiesindicatethatworking-classcouplesmarryf
PASSAGETWOWhatisthepossibleattitudeofresearcherstowardstheanthropocentricapproach?
PASSAGETHREEIn"Itwasasevereset-backtoherrecentlypleasedmentalstate."(Para.16),whatdoes"herrecentlypleasedm
PASSAGETWOMentionatleastTWOdifferencesbetweenthemutes(Para.1).
PassageOneWhatmadeJoacceptthejobofaccompanyingAuntMarchaccordingtotheauthor?
PassageOne(1)LakeTrummeninsouthernSwedenusedtobeapolluted,weed-chokedmess.Now,aftera$14millioncleanup
Itisaknownfactthatphysicalactivityimprovesoverallhealth.Notonlydoesitimprovecirculation,increasebloodflowto
TheVirusHuntersThemouthoftheAmazonRiverhaslongbeenastartingplaceforhuntersgoingtothejunglesofBrazil.
Thedecisionoflocalgovernmentwasthatthepollutedarea______closed.
随机试题
根据《巴黎公约》规定,外观设计的优先权的时间为()
军人叛逃罪
吗啡中毒后可有下述表现:
剧烈呕吐后出现呕血的情况提示()。
下列工期索赔的计算方法中,如果某干扰事件仅仅影响某单项工程、单位工程或分部分项工程的工期,要分析其对总工期的影响,可以采用()。
一般资料:求助者,男性,28岁,外企员工。案例介绍:求助者高大英俊,工作能力强,人际关系好,深受领导和同事的好评。求助者与女友是大学同学,大学毕业时确立恋爱关系,两人相恋5年,感情融洽,已谈及婚嫁,三个月前,求助者正准备为结婚购置婚房的时候,女友却突然提出
根据下表,完成126~130题。设2003年进出口总额最大的国家的进出口总额为A,2003年进出口总额最小的国家的进出口总额为B,则A约为B的()
86,41,27,18,13,6,5,()
动物的权利问题——1997年英译汉及详解Doanimalshaverights?Thisishowthequestionisusuallyput.Itsoundslikeauseful,ground-clearing
下面关于实时系统的论述中,正确的是()。
最新回复
(
0
)