An intro to the science of Language

Question 1

what is Linguistics

Answer 1

The academic discipline that studies language.

*Language is the set of utterances that are allowed within a communication system

Question 2

what is Psycholinguistics

Answer 2

The study of language as it is used and learned by people.

*Language is a shared, symbolic system used to express our thoughts, feelings, ideas, and experiences.

Question 3

what is Phonetics

Answer 3

The study of the physical sounds of human speech.

Example: How sounds are produced and heard, like the difference between “p” and “b.”

Question 4

what is Morphology

Answer 4

speech sounds that have meaning
◦ Root morphemes – jump, cup, pillow, quick
◦ Bound morphemes – -ing, -ed, un-, dis-, -ly (prefixes and suffixes
that change the meaning of a root)
◦ Morphemes combine to make words

Question 5

what is Syntax

Answer 5

The rules that dictate how words are combined into sentences, questions, past and future tense etc. Also called “grammar”

(nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.)

Question 6

what is Semantics

Answer 6

The meaning of words, sentences, and narratives.

Analyzing how context affects meaning

Question 7

what is Pragmatics

Answer 7

How language is used for communication between people
◦ Discourse
◦ Conversation

social cues

Question 8

Semanticity

Answer 8

Language is made up of symbolic units that combine to express meaning.

Words and sentences represent objects, actions, and ideas

Question 9

Arbitrariness

Answer 9

◦ Sounds, letters, pictographs, signs bear no relationship to meaning.
◦ Different languages use different symbols

Question 10

Displacement

Answer 10

We can use language to talk about here and now, but also past/future and real/imagined.

Question 11

Productivity/Generativity

Answer 11

A fixed number of units can be combined in an infinite number of ways.

Question 12

Why is speech production/perception so hard?

Answer 12

1. Segmentation
2. Co-articulation
3. Individual differences

Question 13

Segmentation

Answer 13

The pauses don’t appear between words, they appear in the middle of words.

Question 14

co-articulation

Answer 14

Phonemes are altered by surrounding phonemes

Question 15

Individual differences

Answer 15

individual voices vary because of:
* Gender
* Age
* Emotion
* Accent

Question 16

The McGurk effect

Answer 16

When we hear a sound but see a different mouth movement, we see conflicts with what we hear, causing us to perceive a different sound.

caused by catergorical perception

proves language is multi sensory

Question 17

Phonemic Restoration

Answer 17

if one letter in a sentence is replaced by a cough you will still hear the correct letter as the sense gives you enough context to infer.

Question 18

what is Phonology

Answer 18

The study of how sounds function and are organized in a particular language.

sounds change in different contexts, the “s” sound in “cats” vs. “dogs.”