CHP. 10 - Language Flashcards
Speech segmentation
“slicing” of a continous speech stream into appropriate segments
* 1st step toward phoneme ID
Phonemic restoration effect
perception of language relies on prior knowledge & expectations to supplement input
* top-down processes
ex. you know what curse word someone used on TV even when it’s bleeped
Coarticulation
attributes of successive speech units overlap in articulatory or acoustic patterns
* planning ahead
ex. “brain moving faster than mouth can speak it”
Categorical perception
certain stimuli (especially in speech) are perceived categorically rather than continously despite continous variation in their form
ex. “bah v. fah”, “Yanny vs. Laurel”
Combining phonemes
Hint: think sequence
phoneme -> morpheme -> word
Only some combos of phonemes are acceptable within a language.
Orthography
a set of conventions for writing a language
* norms of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, hyphenation, etc.
Semantics
branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning
Syntax
rules that govern the structure of a phrase or sentence
Generativity
the capacity to create an endless series of new combos (words) from a small set of fundamental units
ex. dog using buttons to communicate (animals can’t generate new words)
Prescriptive rules
rules describing how something is “supposed to be” in the language
how it “ought” to be
Descriptive rules
rules describing the language as it’s “actually” used by fluent speakers/listeners
e.g. phrase-structure rules
Parsing
the process of determing each word’s syntactic role in a sentence
* people parse sentences as they hear them
usually effective, but can lead to misinterpretations
Garden-path sentences
suggest an interpretation that turns out to be incorrect
ex. “the old man the boat”
Extralinguistic context
the physical & social setting in which we encounter sentences
Prosody
patterns of pauses & pitch changes that chararcterize speech production
reveals speaker’s mood, intended meaning, etc.
Pragmatic rules
rules that govern how people actually use a language
* conversational “rules”
Aphasia
serious speech deficit that renders a person unable to communicate effectively; caused by brain damage
* can affect speaking, fluency, comprehension
Broca’s area
Hint: location
left interior frontal gyrus; ** left frontal lobe**
Anomia
difficulty retrieving correct words for ideas they wish to express
Wernicke’s area
Hint: location
left superior temporal gyrus; left temporal lobe
Nonfluent aphasia
caused by damage to Broca’s area
* intact language comprehension
* impaired production (written & spoken)
Fluent aphasia
caused by damage to Wernicke’s area
* impaired comprehension
* intact language production (but produced speech is nonsensical, believe they’re making sense)
Specific langauage impairment (SLI)
- normal language
- slow to learn language
- difficulty understanding & producing language throughout their lives
Linguistic relativity
hypothesis that people who speak different languages think differently as a result
* aka Sapir-Whoft Hypothesis
ex. people are less likely to evac if hurricane has a female name
Cultural relativism
idea that basic perceptual experiences may be determined in part by the cultural environment
ex. color perception (black/white, then red, etc.)
Active vs. passive voice
active: subject takes/performs action
* ex. “She is writing the essay.”
passive: subject receives action instead of performing it
* ex. “This essay is written by her.”
