General Linguistics Flashcards
What is a langauge?
Language is a system of conventional signs used for human communication
What are properties of language?
Displacement, arbitrariness, discreteness, duality of patterning, vocal-auditory channel, specialization, non-directionality, productivity, cultural transmission
What are functions of language?
Referential, artistic, expressive/emotive, conative, metalinguistic, phatic
What are branches of lingustics?
Historical lingustics, phonetics, phonology, pragmatics, neurolinguistics, syntax, semantics, morphology
Where is the language centre located in the brain?
The language centre in the brain is located in the left hemisphere of the brain, approximately around the left ear
What does the language centre in the brain include?
It includes:
Broca’s area- resposible for production of speech difficulties while damaged
Wernicke’s area- responsible for comprehension of speech difficulties while damaged
The motor cortex- if damaged, it impedes the physical articulation of speech
the curved bundle- connection between the Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas; while damaged, it might cause difficulties in repeating
What is aphasia?
Aphasia is an impairment of language function due to the brain damage. It may result difficulties in comprehension or production of speech.
Dialect
variation of a language characteristic for a particular group
Sociolect/ social dialect
language variation used by a particular social group
Slang
informal, non-standard and non-technical vocabulary, characterized by lowered dignity of discourse
Idolect
personal dialect of a person
Regional dialect
distinct form of language spoken in the particular geographical area
Register
the conventional way of using language in a given context
Standard variety
variety of language used in official communication, generally accepted by the authorities and shared between various social group
Non-standard variety
variety of language used in the selected groups
Denotation
direct meaning of the word
Connotation
secondary meaning and implications assosiated with the word
Utterance
a statement in context
Speech act
an utterance with a function in communication
Grice’s maxims
rules to be followed to facilitate meaningful communication
1. Quantity- say as much as you have to say
2. Quality- try to tell the truth
3. Relation- be relevant
4. Manner- be brief, clear orderly
Principles of politeness
- Consideration (minimize discomfort)
- Modesty (minimize self praise)
- Taxt (minimize cost, maximize benefits)
Presupposition
implicit assumption behind the utterance that is taken for granted in discourse
Implicature
something that a speaker suggest within an utterance, but it is not outwardly stated
Hedge
a word or phrase used to express ambiguity
Cohesion
being logical and understandable in the sense of the organization of the text
Coherence
being logical and understandable in the sense of the organization of the ideas
Language family
group of languages connected through a common ancestral language (proto-language)
What structural classes of language there are?
- Isolating- each word is a single morpheme
- Agglutinative- the word forms can be segmented into morphs, each of which represents a single grammatical category
- Inflectional- words where single inflectional morpheme denote multiple features
Non-Indo-European languages spoken in Europe
Uralic (Hungarian, Finnish), Basque
