Bri Flashcards
Vocab & Terminology
Linguistic Competence
The unconscious knowledge that a speaker has about her or his native language
Linguistic Performance
The observable use of language
Performance Error
Errors in language production or comprehension, including slipping of the tongue and hesitation
Speech Communication Chain
The stages in speech communication whereby a message moves between the mind of the speaker and the mind of the listener
Steps of Speech Communication Chain
- Think of what you want to communicate
- Pick out words to express the idea
- Put these words together in a certain order following rules
- Figure out how to pronounce these words
- Send those pronunciations to your vocal anatomy
- Speak: send the sounds through the air
- Perceive: listener hears the sounds
- Decode: listener interprets sounds as language
- Connect: listener receives communicated idea
Noise
Interference in the communication chain
Lexicon
Mental placing of linguistic information about words and other lexical expressions; including: form, meaning, morphological and syntactic properties
Mental Grammar
The knowledge that a speaker has about the linguistic units and rules of his native language
Language Variation
The property of languages having different ways to express the same meanings in different contexts according to factors such as geography, social class, gender (but not limited to just these factors)
Descriptive Grammar
Objective description of a speaker’s knowledge of a language based on their use of the language
Evidence that writing and language are not the same (list 4 reasons)
- Archaeological evidence (6000 years ago)
- Writing doesn’t exist everywhere
- Writing must be taught and can be edited
- Neurological evidence (areas of brain)
Reasons some people believe writing to be superior to speech (list 3 reasons)-
- Writing may be edited
- Writing needs to be taught
- Writing is more physically stable
Prescriptive Grammar
Rules designed to give instructions in regards to the socially embedded notion of the “correct” or “proper” way to speak or write
Prescribe
Use of rules and conventions to tell a speaker the way he/she should or should not use a language
Charles Hockett’s nine design features (necessary for a communication system to be considered a language) (list)-
- Mode of communication
- Semanticity
- Pragmatic function
- Interchangeability
- Cultural transmission
- Arbitrariness
- Discreteness
- Displacement
- Productivity