9a - Language and Thought

Question 1

What is Language?

Answer 1

• A set of symbols used to communicate.
• Our spoken, written, or signed words
  (symbols) and the ways we combine
  them to communicate meaning.

Question 2

What are the functions of language (4)?

Answer 2

1- Convey thoughts of one person to others
2- Supports creative and progressive social interaction.
3- Sharing of innovations (ideas) throughout a culture and preserving them across generations
4- Facilitates thinking, problem-solving, and decision making

Question 3

What are the two processes of language?

Answer 3

Language production and language comprehension.

Question 4

Explain language production.

Answer 4

• The ability to generate and express ideas (thoughts) through words or gestures.
• Speech involves the expression of language through generated sounds.
• Note: human language is generative or creative. We can automatically (on the fly) convey our ideas in sometimes novel ways (within the framework of the language).

Question 5

Explain language comprehension.

Answer 5

The ability to understand spoken, written, or signed language.

Question 6

What are the four areas of language structure?

Answer 6

Phonology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics.

Question 7

What is phonology?

Answer 7

The study of how sounds are put together to form parts of speech (words).

Question 8

What is semantics?

Answer 8

The study of the meaning of words or phrases in a language.

Question 9

What is syntax?

Answer 9

The system or grammatical rules used to combine words in particular orders.

Question 10

What is pragmatics?

Answer 10

Practical aspects of speech (e.g., timing, emphasis, body language).

Question 11

What are phonemes?

Answer 11

The smallest distinctive sound units of speech (Do not necessarily convey meaning).

Question 12

What are the main types of language?

Answer 12

Spoken, written, or signed words (symbols).

Question 13

What 2 things do all languages involve (and what do they do)?

Answer 13

Sender (code) and receiver (decode).

Question 14

What are the two types of meaning in semantics?

Answer 14

1- Lexical meaning: Dictionary definition (may change over time)
2- Metaphorical meaning: It’s raining cats and dogs.
- Context in which a word is used may alter its meaning:
- Ed is a fast runner versus Ed decided to fast for 33 days.

Question 15

What is a morpheme? (Part of semantics)

Answer 15

• The smallest unit of language that conveys meaning.
• May be a word (e.g. cat)
• or a sound(s) that alters its meaning when added to a word. e.g., s indicates plural (more than one)
• Therefore Cats has two morphemes, cat and s