Chapter 1 Flashcards
linguistic competence
What we know when we know a language, the unconscious knowledge that a speaker has about her or his native language.
linguistic performance
The observable use of language. The actualization of one’s linguistic competence.
performance error
Errors in language production or comprehension, including hesitations and slips of the tongue.
speech communication chain
The process through which information is communicated consisting of information source, transmitter, signal, receiver and destination.
speech communication chain steps
step 1: Think of what you want to communicate. Step2: Pick out words to express the idea. Step 3: Put these words together in a certain order following rules. Step 4: Speak- Send the sounds through the air. Step 5: send those pronunciations to your vocal anatomy. Step 6: Figure out how to pronounce these words. Step 7: Perceive- Listener hears the sounds. Step 8: Decode- Listener interprets sounds as language. Step 9: Connection- Listener receives communication idea.
noise
Interference in the communication chain.
lexicon
A mental repository of linguistic information about words and other lexical expressions including their form and meaning and their morphological and syntactic properties
mental grammar
A mental representation of grammar.
language variation
The property of languages having different contexts according to factors such as geography social class gender.
descriptive grammar
Objective description of a speaker’s or group of speaker’s knowledge of a language (competence) based on their use of the language (performance).
evidence that writing and language are not the same (list 4 reasons)
1) Spoken language is acquired naturally and all writing systems must be taught explicitly. 2) The processing and production of written language is overlaid on the spoken language centers in the brain. Spoken language involves several distinct areas of the brain, writing uses these areas and other as well. 3) Writing can be edited before it is shared with others in most cases, while speech is usually much more spontaneous. 4) Archeological evidence indicates the writing is a later historical development than spoken language.
reasons some people believe writing to be superior to speech (list 3 reasons)
1) Writing is usually more aptly worded and better organized, containing fewer errors, hesitations, pauses, fillers words, false starts and incomplete sentences than are found in speech. 2) Writing is more physically stable than spoken language, which consists of nothing more than waves traveling through the air and is therefore ephemeral and transient. 3) Written language can be edited to fit different formats of writing for example texting, tweeting, discussion board posting and emailing, while spoken language can not.
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.
prescribe
Advised and authorized the use of writing.
Charles Hockett’s nine design features (necessary for a communication system t be considered a language)(list)
1) Mode of communication. 2) Semanticity. 3) Pragmatic function. 4) Interchangeable. 5) Cultural Transmission. 6) Arbitrariness 7) Discreteness. 8) Displacement. 9) Productivity
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
The useful purpose of any given communication system
interchangeability
The property of a communication system by which all individuals have the ability to both transmit and review messages.
arbitrariness
In relation to language, refers to the fact that a word’s meaning is not predictable from its linguistic form nor is its form dictated by its meaning.
linguistic sign
The combination of a linguistic form and meaning .
convention
Something that is established, commonly agreed upon, or operating in a certain way according to common practice
nonarbitrariness
Direct correspondence between the physical properties of a form and the meaning that the form refers to.
iconic
Relationship between form and meaning such that the form of a word bears a resemblance to its meaning.
onomatopeia
Iconic use of words that are imitative of sounds occurring in nature or that have meanings that are associated with such sounds.
conventionalized
Something that is established, commonly agreed upon, or operating in a certain way according to common practice
sound symbolism
Phenomenon by which certain sounds are evocative of a particular meaning.
discreteness
The property of communication system by which complex messages may be built up out of smaller parts.
displacement
The property of some communication system that allows them to be used to communicate about things actions and ideas that are not present at the place or time where communication is taking place.
productivity
The capacity of a communication system for novel messages built out of discrete units to be produced and understood.
modality
Language with a spoken modality; also called aural-oral
myths about signed languages (list 4)
1) Signed languages derive from spoken languages, rather than being languages in their own right. 2) Signed languages are manual codes, but that is equally incorrect. 3) There is only one signed language that is used by deaf speakers all over the world. 4) Signed languages do not have any internal structure.
differences between codes and languages (list 4)
1) A code is an artificially constructed system for representing a natural language. Signed languages, on the other hand, evolve naturally and independently of spoken languages. 2) Codes never have native speakers because they are artificial systems. Languages do have native speakers. 3) Manual codes have different fragments of communication where signed language only has one. 4) Manual codes are not natural languages is the striking difference between manual coded English and natural languages such as English and ASL in the rate of transmission of transmission of information.
