Final Exam Flashcards
2 ways to create infinite sentences
- Recursion-adding to sentence
2. Repetition of words
Generative Grammar
System of rules that can generate all the grammatical sentences of a language
Content words (open class)
Noun, verb, adjective, adverb
Function words (closed class)
Determiner, preposition, conjunction, pronoun
Intransitive verb
Verb takes no object (ex: lie, sleep)
Transitive verb
Verb takes one object (ex: hug, kick)
Ditransitive verb
Verb takes two objects (ex: give, put)
Thematic Relations (8)
- Agent
- Theme
- Recipient
- Location
- Source
- Goal
- Time
- Instrument
Deep structure
Abstract representation
Surface structure
Forms of sentences from transformation
Syntax-first theories
Use only syntactic cues to construct parse
Constraint-based theories
Use all available info to figure out parse
Two-Stage Model (AKA Garden Path Model)
- Serial and syntax-first
- Comprehenders always construct the simplest parse and only revise if conflicting syntactic info
Good-Enough Processing
Comprehenders reject right analysis if it doesn’t seem plausible
Expectation-Based Comprehension Theory
The less probable the structure, the more costly it is to re-rank your parse hypotheses, explains lack of GP effect
Principle of Immediate Mention
Production is more efficient if quickly selected lemmas can be mentioned
Types of Speech Acts (5)
- Representative
- Directive
- Commissive
- Declarative
- Expressive
Locutionary Force
What the sentence literally means
Illocutionary Force
What the speaker is trying to do with the sentence
Perlocutionary Force
The effect the sentence actually has on the listener
Gricean Maxims (4)
- Quality-truth
- Quantity
- Relevance
- Manner-clarity
Implicature
What is suggested in an utterance, but isn’t expressed nor strictly implied, can be cancelled (conventional or conversational/ad-hoc)
Entailment
Relationship between two sentences where the truth of one requires the truth of the other
Presupposition
Assumed beforehand
General audience design
Atypical instruments mentioned more often
Specific audience design
Occurs late (subsequent clause mention)
Chomsky’s view of acquisition
Poverty of Stimulus
- Quantity
- Quality
Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
Universal Grammar, innate predisposition, mental capacity
Optimality Theory
Observed forms of language arise from the optimal satisfaction of conflicting constraints
Prelocutionary (birth-10 months)
Signal not specialized for communication
Illocutionary (10-12 months)
Awareness of communication, means to achieve a goal, still lacking rich locutionary content
Locutionary (12 months and onward)
Developing linguistic content and sound-object mapping, may be accompanied by gestures
Commonalities between pidgin and L1
- Simplified output
- For presumably efficient communication
Differences between pidgin and L1
Pidgin influenced by speakers’ L1, both phonologically, lexically, syntactically
Speech Learning Model (Jim Flege)
- Phonetic similarity between L1 and L2 sound categories
- Formation of new sound categories
- New, similar, same
- Focus primarily on production
Perceptual Assimilation Model (Cathy Best)
Primarily on perception of phonemic contrasts
N400
Semantic anomaly, last word either semantically congruent or incongruent for context (ex: waterfall)
P600
Syntactic anomaly, garden path effect, elicited by hearing or reading grammatical errors or other syntactic anomalies
Mismatch Negativity (MMN)
Detection of change, occurs when there is an odd stimulus in a sequence of stimuli
