A2 Key Terms Flashcards
Archaism
An old fashioned word or phrase that isn’t used in modern day english
Amelioration
When a word develops a more positive meaning over time
Babbling
The production of short vowel/consonant combinations by a baby acquiring language
Behaviourism
A theory of language acquisition that suggests that children learn language through a process of imitation and reinforcement
Bidialectism
The ability of speakers to switch between two dialect forms, the most common being between standard english and a speaker’s regional variety
Blending
When parts of two of words are combined to make a new one
Borrowing
When words from one language fall into common usage in another q’s q result of contact
Broadening
When a word that has quite a specific meaning becomes more general over time ( also known we generalisation, expansion or extension)
Child-directed speech
The way that carers talk to children - usually in a simplified and/or exaggerated way
Clipping
When a shortened version of a word becomes a word in its own right
Cluster reduction
When a child only pronounces one consonant from a consonant cluster
Cognitive theory
A theory of language acquisition that suggests that children need to have developed certain mental abilities before that can acquire language
Conversion
When a word becomes part of a different word class in addition to the original one
Cooing
The earliest sounds children are able to make as they experiment with moving their lips and tongue
Critical period hypothesis
A theory popularised by Lenneberg (1967) which states that or a child does not have any linguistic interaction before the ages of 5-6, their language development will b be severely limited
Deletion
When a child misses out consonants in words
Descriptivsm
The attitude that no use of language is incorrect and that variation should be acknowledged and recorded rather than corrected
Overextension
When a child acquiring language uses a word too generally to refer to different but related things
Pejoration
When a word develops a more negative meaning over time
Phonemic contraction
When a baby stops making certain sounds, and just makes the sounds it hears from the language its caregivers use. (10 months)
Phonemic expansion
When a baby starts to make lots of different sounds in the babbling stage. Happens before phonemic contraction.
Plosive
A consonant sound in English produced by completely stopping the flow of air from the lungs and then releasing it. E.g p,b,t,d,k
Presciptivism
The attitude that language should have a strict set of rules that must be obeyed in speech and writing
Porto-word
A combination of sounds that a child uses that actually contains meaning, rather than just being a random utterance like during the cooing and babbling stages.
Sans serif typeface
A typeface where there aren’t and fine strokes attached to the tops and bottoms of letters.
Serif typeface
A typeface where fine strokes are attached to the tops and bottoms of letters
Simplification
When a child learning to speak drops consonants or consonant clusters to make words easier to pronounce, or swaps them for others that are easier to produce
Standardisation
The process by which grammarians and prescriptivists attempted to structure and influence English usage according to what they believed constituted ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’ usage of the language.
Substitution
When a child replaces a consonant in a word that it’s one that’s easier to say
Telegraphic stage
The stage of language acquisition at which children begin to create three or four word utterances containing mainly subjects, verbs, objects and complements
Th-fronting
When a speaker replaces the th sounds with f sounds
Underextension
When a child uses words in a very restricted way
Zone of proximal development
Vygotsky’s (1978) theory that when caregivers help children with verbal responses, they provide a model that the child can copy and apply when they are in other situations
