01/07 Flashcards
Language
our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning
phoneme
in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit
morpheme
in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)
grammar
in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others
semantics
selecting the correct word to convey the meaning you intend.
green is go, red is stop
syntax
putting the words into the correct order according to grammatical standards of your language.
red, yellow, green
universal grammar
Noam Chomsky: universal grammar preschoolers pick up language so readily and use grammar so well because of a built-in predisposition to learn grammar rules
receptive language
their(babies) ability to understand what is said to and about them
babbling stage
Beginning around 4 months, this stage of speech development in which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds (phonemes) is at first unrelated to the household language.
babbling stage
Beginning around 4 months, this stage of speech development in which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds (phonemes) is at first unrelated to the household language.
one word stage
Around their first birthday, most children enter the one-word stage. They have already learned that sounds carry meanings and now begin to use sounds—usually only one barely recognizable syllable, such as ma or da—to communicate meaning
two word stage
At about 18 months, children’s learning of language explodes from about a word per week to a word per day.
telegraphic speech
two-word stage produces sentences in which a child speaks like a telegram— “go car” —using mostly nouns and verbs
aphasia
impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding)
brocas area
helps control language expression—an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech
wernickes area
a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe
linguistic determination
language controls the way we think and interpret the world around us.
linguistic influence
weaker form of “linguistic relativity”—the idea that language affects thought (thus our thinking and world view is “relative to” our cultural language)
