Chapter One - Introduction Flashcards
Discussion question: How does the spelling of a language differ from its sounds? Why might some get them confused or be confused by them?
Consider this and answer during study.
What is the difference between phonetics and phonology?
Phonetics looks at the speech sounds themselves and their properties and how they are made and perceived, and phonology studies how the sounds organize into systems of language.
Why do we know that ‘tlip’ isn’t a word?
Since we know from other contexts that the initial ‘tl’ sound isn’t impossible phonetically, but it is the phonology in the English language (and any language) that dictates what is and what is not possible within the organization of speech sounds.
What is Generative grammar?
A generative grammar consists of a set of formal statement which delimits the possible structures that are part of a language. Basically, it describes that which is allowed and not allowed within that language.
What does a generative grammar represent? (What do we know when we know a language?)
- How to combine words together to form larger structures [syntax]
- How words in a sentence hold relationships with each other (as in subject, object, etc.) [syntax]
- How words are formed; their internal makeup [morphology]
- Meanings of words and how they can be combined to allow interpretation [semantics]
- How the sounds are organized [phonology]
- How sounds are produced and received physically [phonetics]
