finegan chapter 1 Flashcards
creolization
process through which a pidgin language develops into a full blown language
fundamental function of every language system
to link meaning and expression; to provide verbal expression for thought and feeling and for that expression to be comprehensible to others
expression
words, phrases, and sentences, including intonation and stress
meaning
the senses and referents of those elements of expression
context
the social situation in which expression is uttered; includes what has been expressed earlier in that situation and any shared knowledge between speaker and hearer
signs
indicators of something else
nonarbitrary signs
EX: smoke of fire, clouds of rain
arbitrary signs
no casual or inherent connection exists between the sign and what it signifies; EX: traffic lights, railroad crossing indicators, wedding rings, national flags
representational signs
signs that are basically arbitrary but partly iconic
representational language
aka iconic language; expression that in any fashion mimics or directly suggests its content
grammatical competence
the mental capacity that enables speakers to form grammatical sentences; enables speakers to produce and understand an infinite number of sentences they haven’t heard before; the language user’s unconscious/implicit knowledge of vocabulary, pronunciation, sentence structure, and meaning
discreteness hallmark
words are made up of separate elemental sounds
duality hallmark
two-level analysis of meaningless elements combined into meaningful ones
displacement hallmark
human languages are capable of representing things and events that are not present but are spatially or temporally distant
recursion
property of incorporating structures within similar linguistic structures
communicative competence
the capacity to use language appropriately; the implicit knowledge that underlies the appropriate use of grammatical competence in communicative situations
oral communication
relying on the use of speech and hearing organs; primary mode of human language
writing
a visual representation; secondary mode of linguistic communication
signing
a visual or tactile representation; the use of visible gestures to communicate
pictograms
can be understood by speakers of any language because they are a direct nonlinguistic symbolization
linguistics
the systematic inquiry into human language, its structure and uses and the relationship between them and its development through history and its acquisition by children and adults
grammar
the structural patterns of speech sounds, words, sentence formation, and meaning
pragmatics
the relationship between expression and meaning & context and interpretation
