Chapter 1 Flashcards
linguist
tease apart the patterns of various aspects of human language in order to discover how it words
linguistic competence
hidden knowledge of language
linguistic performance
way they produce and comprehend language
performance errors
unable to remember a word, mispronouncing something, jumbling words
communication chain
process of communication of info, information source, transmitter, signal, receiver, and destination
noise
interference in the chain of communication
phonetics
the study of the minimal units of language
morphology
study of how words are constructed into a morpheme(smallest linguistic unit that has a meaning or grammatical function)
grammatical
a term used to describe a sentence that is in accordance with the descriptive grammatical rules of some language, especially syntactic rules
semantics
study of linguistic meaning
lexicon
mental repository of linguistic information about words and expressions including form, meaning, morphological, syntactic properties
mental grammar
mental representation of grammar knowledge that a speaker has about the linguistic units and rules of his native language
language variation
property of languages having different ways to express the same meanings in different contexts according to factors such as geography, social class, gender
descriptive grammar
objective description of a speakers knowledge of a language based on their use of the language
prescriptive grammar
a set of rules designed to give instructions regarding the socially embedded notion of the correct or proper way to speak or write
mode of communication
means through which a message is transmitted for any given communication system
semanticity
property of having signals that convey a meaning, shared by all communication systems
pragmatic function
useful purpose of any given communication system
interchangeability
all individuals have ability to both transmit and receive messages (as opposed to systems where some can only send or receive)
cultural transmission
fact that at least some aspects of it are learned through interaction with other users of the system
arbitrariness
words meaning is not predictable from its linguistic form, nor is its form dictated by its meaning
linguistic sign
combo or a linguistic form and meaning
convention
something that is established commonly agreed upon or operating in a certain way according to common practice
non-arbitrariness
direct correspondence between the physical properties of a form and the meaning the form refers to
iconic
relationship between form and meaning such that the form of a word bears a resemblance to its meaning
onomatopoeia
iconic use of words that are imitative of sounds occurring in nature or that have meanings that are associated with such sounds
discreteness
property of communication systems by which complex messages may be built up out of smaller parts
displacement
allows communication systems to be used to communicate about things, actions, ideas that are not present at the place or time where communication is taking place
productivity
capacity of a communication system for novel messages built out of discrete units to be produced and understood
modality
mode of communication (means through which a message is transmitted for any given communication system)
evidence that writing and language are not the same
1 writing does not exist everywhere that spoken language does
2 writing must be taught whereas spoken language is acquired naturally
3 writing can be edited before it is shared
4 neurolinguistic evidence spoken language involves several distinct areas of the brain, writing uses these areas and others as well
myths about signed languages
1 signed languages derived from spoken languages
2 signed languages don’t consist of words at all but rather involve signers using hands to draw pictures in air or act out
3 only one sign language for all deaf people
communication chain steps
1 think of what you want to communicate
2 pick out words to express the idea
3 put these words together in a certain order following rules
4 figure out how to pronounce these words
5 send those pronunciations to your vocal anatomy
6 speak: send the sounds through the air
7 perceive: listener hears the sounds
8 decode: listener interprets sounds as language
9 connect: listener receives communicated idea
prescribe
is the practice of elevating one variety or manner of language use over another. It may imply some forms are incorrect
conventionalized
to make conventional (conforming or adhering to accepted standards)
sound symbolism
certain sounds occur in words not by virtue of being directly imitative of some sound but rather simply by being evocative of a particular meaning
differences between codes and languages
1 a code is artificially constructed
2 a code represents another language
3 a code borrows its structure from a language
4 a code never has a native speaker
Charles Hockett’s nine design features (necessary for a communication system to be considered a language) (list)
1 mode of communication 2 semanticity 3 pragmatic function 4 interchangeability 5 cultural transmission 6 arbitrariness 7 discreteness 8 displacement 9 productivity
reasons some people believe writing to be superior to speech
1 writing can be edited
2 writing must be taught
3 writing is more physically stable
