Ch. 4: Language & Communication Flashcards
call systems
communication systems of primates; these vocal systems consist of limited numbers of sounds that are produced only when particular environmental stimulus are encountered
cultural transmission
a basic feature of language; transmission through learning
productivity
the ability to use the rules of one’s language to create new expressions comprehensible to other speakers; a basic feature of language
displacement
absent in call systems; ability to talk about things that aren’t present
kinesics
study of communication through body movements, stances, gestures, & expressions
descriptive linguistics
scientific study of a spoken language
phonology
study of speech sounds
morphology
studies how sounds combine to form morphemes (words & their meaningful parts)
lexicon
a dictionary containing all of a languages morphemes & their meanings
syntax
refers to arrangement & order of words in phrases & sentences
phoneme
a sound contrast that makes a difference. that differentiates meaning
phonetics
study of speech sounds in general. what people actually say in various languages or dialects
phonemics
studies only the significant sound contrasts (phonemes) of a given language
focal vocabulary
a set of words & distinctions that are particularly important to certain groups, such as types of snow to Eskimos and skiers
semantics
a language’s meaning system
sociolinguistics
investigates relationships between social & linguistic variation
style shifts
variations in speech in different contexts
diglossia
the existence of “high” (formal) & “low” (familial) dialects of a single language, such as German
historical linguistics
subdivision of linguistics that studies languages over time
daughter languages
languages that descend from the same parent language & that have been changing separately for 100s or 1000s of years
subgroups
languages within a taxonomy of related languages that are most closely related
