Basics Flashcards
What is linguistics, universal properties, semiotics
What are pragmatics?
study of meaning by the speaker at the moment -> what a speaker implies
What are semantics?
Study of meaning of words, phrases, sentences + the study of the properties of meaning - widely accepted meaning of words + definition in a dictionary -> referential meaning
What is the definition of universal properties of language?
what makes language language -> it’s characteristics
Meta-property of language?
reflexivity
humans talk & think about language, animals can’t do that
What is Displacement?
A universal property of human language that allows users to talk about things and events not present in the immediate environment -> spatial, temporal, fictional
spatial, temporal, fictional
Spatial: “Do you know where the bank is?” – “Just take the next left, and then walk about 100 meters until you see it.”
Temporal: “Remember the time when we ran around my grandpa’s backyard when we were kids?”
Fictional: “I think Faeries do exist and no one can convince me otherwise!”
What is Arbitrariness?
a universal property of language describing the fact that there is no natural connection between a linguistic form and its meaning
lots of languages have a word for objects, culturally created
What is Cultural transmission?
universal property of language; The process whereby knowledge of a language is passed from one generation to the next (=children learn language because of their caregivers)
animals have an instinct to produce sounds, if in a familiar place
What is Productivity, Creativity?
keep producing new units, having the ability to develop a new idea, that has never been done before, it’s adaptable, we create new words;
A universal property of language that allows users to create new expressions, also called ‘open-endedness’
because of it we have variability -> language use varies according to users (idiolect, regiolect) and uses (register, jargon) -> AE & BE
What is Duality?
A universal property of language whereby linguistic forms have two simultaneous levels of sound production and meaning, also called ‘double articulation’ -> phonology & meaning
number of sounds (=phonomes) & toolbox to combine (=morphemes)
sound-layer has no meaning; world-layer is a combo of sounds & has meaning
What is Discreteness?
universal property of language; Discrete means “separate” or “distinct”, so the uniqueness of sounds in a language -> ability to perceive flows of sounds as separate units
map-lap; almost sounds the same but completely different things
What are the two signals, one should consider?
communicative & informative
tellings someone something = communicating; someone sneezes while talking to me = I’m informed that he might have a cold
What is Glossolalia?
speaking in tongues, has no communicative purpose
What does using language mean?
that you can develop a complex system of sounds & structures which aren’t always regular
What is Prevarication in Linguistics?
language signals can be false or used to lie/deceive
What did the chimpanzees Washoe and Nim learn?
Sign Language
Though there is controversy, a lot of people argue that they didn’t understand the meaning of “please” and just used it like a machine to form sentences that they seemed fit.
What did the chimpanzee Kanzi do?
He observed the language and therefore learned it, without it being taught to him.
When he was eight years old, he was believed to have the same understanding ability of a 2,5-year-old human child.
What is Linguistics?
scientific study of language
What is language?
primary medium for the transfer of meaning, a tool through which human beings can communicate
Who was Ferdinand de Saussure?
Father of modern linguistics, founder of semiotics
Which types of signs are there?
Symbols, Icons, Indexes
What are symbols?
Symbolic signs: the form-meaning relation is one of arbitrariness
actual sign or a word form in a dictionary
What are icons?
Iconic signs: the form-meaning relation is one of similarity
|”Danger, there are sharks!” -> shark sign -> resembles the signified
Most words are symbolic -> arbitrary & conventional, but there is one exception. What is it?
Onomatopoeias
Dogs don’t bark in Russian
What are indexes?
Indexical signs: the form-meaning relation is one of cause and effect
The signifier is a direct result of the signified -> volcanic eruption
What are the universal properties of language?
- Arbitrariness
- Displacement
- Cultural Transmission
- Duality
- Productivity/Creativity
- Discreteness
- Reflexivity
