File One

Question 1

Linguistic competence

Answer 1

What we know when we know a language; the unconscious knowledge that a speaker has about his/her native language.

Question 2

Linguistic performance

Answer 2

The observable use of language. The actualization of one’s linguistic competence.

Question 3

Performance error

Answer 3

Errors in language production or comprehension, including hesitations and slips of the tongue.

Question 4

Speech communication chain

Answer 4

The process through which information is communicated, consisting of an information source, transmitter, signal, receiver, and destination.

Question 5

Speech communication chain steps

Answer 5

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: Listeners hear the sound
8. Decode: Listener interprets sounds of language
9. Connect; Listener receives communicated idea

Question 6

Noise

Answer 6

Interference in the communication chain

Question 7

Lexicon

Answer 7

A mental repository of linguistic information about words or other lexical expressions, including their form, meaning, morphological, and syntactic properties.

Question 8

Mental grammar

Answer 8

The mental representation of grammar. The knowledge that a speaker has about linguistic units and rules of his native language.

Question 9

Language variation

Answer 9

The property of languages having different ways to express the same meanings in different contexts according to factors such as geography, social class. Gender, etc.

Question 10

Descriptive grammar

Answer 10

Objective description of a speaker’s knowledge of language(competence) based on their use of the language(performance).

Question 11

Evidence that writing and language are not the same

Answer 11

1. Writing can be edited
2. Writing does not exist everywhere
3. Writing must be taught
4. Archeological evidence

Question 12

Reasons some people believe that writing is superior to speech

Answer 12

1. Writing can be edited
2. Writing must be taught
3. Writing is more physically stable

Question 13

Prescriptive grammar

Answer 13

A set of rules designed to give instructions regarding the socially embedded notion of the “correct” or “proper” way to speak or write

Question 14

Prescribe

Answer 14

Similarly to how a doctor prescribes medicine, speech is prescribed through what someone thinks is the “good” or “bad” ways to say/write things.

Question 15

Charles Hockett’s nine design features

Answer 15

1. Mode of communication
2. Semanticity
3. Pragmatic function
4. Interchangeability
5. Cultural transmission
6. Arbitrariness
7. Discreteness
8. Displacement
9. Productivity

Question 16

Mode of communication

Answer 16

Means through which a message is transmitted for any given communication system.

Question 17

Semanticity

Answer 17

Property of having signals that convey a meaning, shared by all communication systems.

Question 18

Pragmatic function

Answer 18

The useful purpose of any given communication system.

Question 19

Interchangeability

Answer 19

The property of a communication system by which all individuals have the ability to both transmit and review messages.

Question 20

Cultural transmission

Answer 20

Property of a communication system referring to the fact that at least some aspects of it are learned through interaction with other users of the system.

Question 21

Arbitrariness

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

Linguistic sign

Answer 22

The combination of a linguistic form and meaning

Question 23

Convention

Answer 23

When an arbitrary relationship of a linguistic sign and its meaning is conventionalized, the linguistic sign bears a constant relationship only because people consistently use that linguistic sign to convey that meaning.

Question 24

Nonarbitrariness

Answer 24

Direct correspondence between the physical properties of a form and the meaning that the form refers to.

Question 25

Iconic

Answer 25

Relationship between form and meaning such that the form of a word bears a resemblance to its meaning.

Question 26

Onomatopoeia

Answer 26

Iconic use of words that are imitative of sounds occurring in nature or that have meanings that are associated with such sounds.

Question 27

Conventionalized

Answer 27

Something that is established, commonly agreed upon, or operating in a certain way according to common practice.

Question 28

Sound symbolism

Answer 28

Phenomenon by which certain sounds are evocative of a particular meaning.

Question 29

Discreteness

Answer 29

The property of communication systems by which complex messages may be built up out of smaller parts

Question 30

Displacement

Answer 30

The property of some communication systems 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.

Question 31

Productivity

Answer 31

The capacity of a communication system for novel messages built out of discrete units to be produced and understood.

Question 32

Modality

Answer 32

Means through which a message is transmitted for any given communication system.

Question 33

Myths about signed languages

Answer 33

1. Signed language vs. manual codes- there is a myth that signed languages derive from spoken languages, rather than being languages in their own right.
2. Sign language vs. pantomime- myth that states that sign languages don’t consist of words at all but rather involve signers using their hands in the air to draw pictures.
3. Universality of Signed languages- myth stating that there is only one sign language used by the deaf around the world.
4. Just because a person is deaf doesn’t automatically mean that sign language is their preferred method of communication.

Question 34

Differences between codes and languages

Answer 34

1. A code has no structure of its own
2. Codes never have native speakers because they are artificial systems
3. Manual codes for spoken languages do not exist
4. Codes use gestures to represent letters, morphemes, and words of a spoken language.